Ingenious Idiot
by Kanae Yuna
Summary: "The truth is plain and simple: James T. Kirk is a genius, even under the most unfavorable conditions..." A series of one-shots where Jim shows his ingenuity while he's bleeding, poisoned, or just hurt in some general way.
1. Speak of the Devil and He Shall Appear

I know I've got other stories still going on and I hate to start a new one when I'm soo close to finishing the others, but I _had_ to get this out of my head, which is bad because I have my finals this week. Gah, I'm such a bad student...

First of all, I want you guys to know that I have never seen anything other than the _Star Trek_ 2009 movie, which I watched like a month ago. And I immediately got hooked and fell in love with all the characters and their familial love/bonds. And most importantly, I fell in love with the idea of Kirk being this badass and still able to do all the badass stuff he does while injured, emotionally compromised, etc.

Anyway, all the information I got about this was from the movie, Wikipedia, and other stories. Please let me know if there's any discrepancies or whatnot because honest to God, I am so brand new at this fandom that it's scaring me. Like, I'm actually terrified to put this up because I didn't even know who Spock was outside of _Big Bang Theory_ until a month ago...so sad. I missed out a lot...

So the point of this was to beat up Jim while still showing how much of a genius he really is. I do have the next chapter planned out (it involves poison), but after that, it's up for grabs. Anyone have any requests, feel free to let me know and I'll see what I can do. Only criteria is that Jim has to get hurt and he has to prove how smart he actually is, though the degree of how hurt he gets, what he does, any slash or no slash, is entirely up to you.

And with that, please enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any _Star Trek_ franchise.

* * *

Depending on who you asked, Captain James T. Kirk was a man of many things. To the citizens of Earth, he was a hero, a savior. To his fellow classmates back at Starfleet academy, he was a womanizer and somewhat of a brash fool who liked to get into too many fights. His mother would probably refuse to answer while Admiral Pike would say that Kirk was like the son he never had.

Either or, most people just didn't realize that behind his many masks and fronts, Jim Kirk was a genius. Not _just_ a genius. He was a _freaking_ genius. Sure, his crew knew that he had many talents and was oddly skillful in the most random things, but there were always questions and rumors. With his laid-back personality, it was just hard to figure out what was the truth and what had been exaggerated.

But after Kirk proved to be more than what he seemed time after time again, the crew of the _Enterprise_ had learned that _everything _was true.

There were no exaggerations.

Nope. The truth was plain and simple: James T. Kirk was a freaking genius, even under the most unfavorable conditions…

* * *

**I**

**Speak of the Devil and He Shall Appear**

Captain Jim Kirk was lounging happily on his favorite chair on his Bridge, brightly munching on an apple as he observed his crew working diligently around him.

Spock was immersed in some sort of scientific journal; Uhura (not Nyota yet) was concentrating hard on translating a message from a Klingon ship. Chekov and Sulu were sprawled over a digital map, heatedly discussing the merits of different routes, and Bones was off somewhere in Sickbay, menacing poor Ensigns with his hyposprays.

All-in-all, it was a slow day.

And Jim was _bored_, which meant that his over-active mind was about to start coming up with ingenious plans to mess with people.

That never ended well for him.

Spock could easily put him in a choke-hold again, though Spock was now more than likely to ream him out logically. Though they became great friends after the whole_ Nerada _debacle, Jim was a still a little bit tentative to mess with the Vulcan. It took too much energy to work loops within Spock's logic and Uhura would probably castrate him if he even got a step too close to them. If he went to bother Bones, he would say something along the lines of "Dammnit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a distraction!" and proceed to infect him with some obscure disease. Definitely not an option. Sulu and Chekov would have probably teamed up with him if they weren't so afraid of Bones, Uhura, _and _Spock. They were all a load of wet blankets.

Which left Scotty.

Jim grinned and stood from his chair. "Spock, I'm going to see how things are in Engineering. You have the conn."

Spock glanced up. "Understood. However, Captain, I would suggest you refrain from collaborating with Mister Scott in various experiments that, as past experiences have indicated, may not end well. We are, after all, on a set schedule to transport dangerous criminals to the penal colony Tantalus V. Delays are not wise."

Jim shrugged aside Spock's concerns as he headed to the turbolift. "Unless the felons have someone on the inside, it shouldn't be possible for them to escape the brig. And I'm offended that you would think that I would encourage Scotty's shenanigans, Spock. I am Captain, after all. I have to make sure that everything is ship-shape."

"You're just bored, _Captain_," teased Uhura. "And Scotty's the only one that you can bother without worries of bodily harm."

"I never denied that," smirked Jim, pressing a button to lower him down to the Engineering deck. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Don't miss me too much!"

The command crew rolled their eyes just as the doors shut.

Sometimes, they really wondered whether or not Jim Kirk was seriously mature enough to be their Captain, though of course, in the next few hours, they never questioned that again.

* * *

Jim strolled onto the Engineering deck and shouted, "Scotty!" as loudly as he could. He grinned as his voice echoed around the heavy machinery. He had always liked to tinker around with equipment and engines; he and Scotty had shared many drinks over their mutual love of all things that were made of metal.

He kept walking, nodding casually at the various Ensigns that passed by him, as he headed towards the back of the engines. Scotty tended to stay in that region of wiring and electrics to ensure that the _Enterprise_ was always at her best.

Sure enough, Scotty was on his back and halfway hidden underneath a power console. Jim knelt down and tapped at the Chief Engineer's foot.

"Scotty!" he called again, for good measure.

There was a muffled yelp and some cursing in Gaelic. Jim chuckled as Scotty squirmed out.

"Jim! Doncha know not to scare a man like tha'?" scolded Scotty, even as a smile made a way to his face.

"What're you doing today, Scotty?" asked Jim. "I don't usually find you lodged in a crevice like this."

"Ach, Keenser said that somethin' is off 'bout these controls. Said tha' someone's been fiddlin' with it."

Jim frowned. "They power the main control throughout the _Enterprise, _don't they? It's complex and dangerous to meddle with them."

"Ah know. And there're wires tha' are twisted about. Take a look yerself."

Scotty climbed to his feet while Jim laid flat on his back. He shimmied his way through the crack with more ease than the Scottish man and within seconds, he could see what Scotty was talking about. But he also saw a small contraption close to his right ear that didn't belong. It was rectangular and there was an antenna sticking out from one of the corners, like a radio. Or remote detonation…But why? Even if the console exploded, it would take a talented programmer and engineer to reroute the power. It just didn't seem worth blowing it up. Unless there were high security measures that simple programming couldn't bypass…

Jim's blue eyes widened as soon as his brain linked together the small pieces of information.

"Shit! Scotty, call the Bridge. Red alert!" he shouted as he scrambled out. "The prisoners are planning an escape!"

"A little late fer tha…" muttered Scotty.

The Engineer was kneeling with his hands up in surrender as three men pointed their phasers at him. Jim inwardly swore as he raised his arms as well.

"Ensign Sean, I would just like you to know that your plans to release the prisoners aren't going to work," Jim said. "This won't end well for you. If you surrender now, I'll talk to the Admiralty. They'll give you a lighter sentence."

The middle-aged man with dark brown hair snarled. "That won't be necessary. You're going to die right here, Captain Kirk."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Shooting me seems so cliché, doesn't it? Anyone can pull a trigger. At least come up with something creative. I mean, I probably did something to you that you're seeking revenge for now, right? Did I fuck your wife? Girlfriend? Or did I kick your ass so hard that you can't show your face without embarrassment? Though, I'm sure I didn't really make _that _much of a difference."

Sean growled, his entire face turning red. "Don't you ever shut up?!"

"No, I don't. I hear that it's a quality of mine that people admire. I've been told that I have quite a talented tongue as well, and I mean that in every way possible. Should I start speaking in long, eloquent sentences or will you just get confused?"

"Shut up!" yelled Sean, slamming the butt of his phaser against Jim's temple.

Lights burst in his vision for a brief second and then rapidly blackened. _Fuck…_that had hurt! A vicious throbbing attacked Jim's mind and he could feel himself losing his consciousness fast. The world was tilting and he landed heavily onto his side.

He could hear Scotty yelling his name and sounds of scuffling. Through his bleary vision, Jim saw the man standing to Sean's left raise his arm and bring it crashing down against Scotty's head. Scotty fell limply to the ground. Then there was blood pooling around his hair.

That sparked a defiant nerve within Jim. Worry and anger rushed through him. How dare they hurt Scotty?! How dare they try to pull this shit on him?! But the world was still spinning, still darkening, and he couldn't coax his body to move fully.

Sean snapped at the other man who just grabbed Scotty by his arms and started dragging the engineer, probably to use as leverage. When they got to a good distance, Sean lifted a small remote and grinned brightly at Jim.

"So long, Captain Kirk."

He pressed the button.

And then there was nothing but flames and pain…

* * *

The Bridge was quiet without their Captain hovering around. Sometimes, the crew found the silence deafening; others, it was a blessing to be able to complete their work without any distractions. This was one of those times where they kind of wished that their Captain had decided to bother one of them. At least they would get a good chuckle out of such a slow day.

Chekov turned in his chair to catch Sulu's attention. "Hikaru, vhat do you think the Keptin is doing to the ship?"

Sulu shook his head, "He and Scotty are probably enjoying the new fermentation distillation that they installed the last time Kirk was down there."

"Though the Captain does seem to enjoy that pastime, I highly doubt that he would indulge in such an activity while on duty," Spock said from his station.

The two immediately ducked their heads, a light flush on their faces at being caught. Damn Spock's Vulcan hearing!

"I'm surprised he didn't go find McCoy," Uhura added to their conversation. "The Sickbay has been empty for a couple of days now and he's all caught up in sleep and paperwork. Kirk's likelihood of getting hypoed is pretty small."

"Has Kirk gotten his annual vaccinations yet?" Sulu asked.

"I don't know, but weren't we supposed to get that two weeks ago? I'm sure McCoy's gotten the entire ship already."

"It seems that the Captain is allergic to this particular strain and therefore has been exempt from Doctor McCoy's…" Spock thought for a brief second for the right word. "…administrations."

Sulu and Chekov snickered at Spock's hesitation and Uhura grinned.

The turbolift opened and McCoy stepped onto the Bridge, immediately noticing the absence of their blue-eyed Captain. "Where's Jim?" he questioned gruffly as he shifted his hold on the medkit he had in his right hand.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear…" whispered Sulu, though none too quietly.

Chekov giggled and Hikaru's smile grew broader.

"What?" glared Leonard. "Spock, where's Jim?"

"He said he was going to Engineering, but I do not know if that was his true destination. May I ask why you have come to the Bridge, Doctor McCoy?"

"I managed to get a different strain of vaccinations that Jim can actually handle and I figured he'd run if I told him that I needed him down in Sickbay."

"So, you figured you'd corner him here where Spock can hold him down. Smart," laughed Uhura.

"Would you like me to comm him to return to the Bridge, Doctor?" asked Spock.

McCoy's eyebrow rose. "You know, if I didn't know better, you _want_ to see Jim squirm, don't you?"

"Such emotions are illogical."

"Which is Vulcan for 'hell yes'…" muttered McCoy. "Yeah, comm him. I don't have all day to wait for him."

Spock studiously ignored the laughter around the Bridge and reached his slender fingers to his console. He was centimeters away from pressing the button when the entire ship jolted violently, making McCoy lose his footing and knocking several crew members out of their chairs. Alarms began flashing red and blaring loudly as shouts could be heard below.

"What the hell was that?!" yelled McCoy.

Instantly, everyone sprang into action. Fingers flew across consoles, questions were rapidly fired and answered, and the problem was found in the matter of seconds.

"Commander, there was an explosion in Engineering!" Sulu said quickly. "But it doesn't seem to be an external attack."

The lights began to flicker and the entire ship seemed to groan.

"Locate the origin of the detonation, Lieutenant Sulu."

"Jim…" breathed McCoy as a horrible realization hit him. "Jim was at Engineering!"

"I am aware, Doctor McCoy, but we have to assess the damage first."

"You damn hobgoblin, I'm going down there."

"Negative, Doctor. As of now, we do not know the exact condition of Engineering. It is too dangerous."

McCoy opened his mouth, ready to angrily argue back, but Chekov cut him off.

"Commander, there is something vrong vith the controls."

"What do you mean?"

"There is something that is overvriting the initial program. A sub-route has been implanted and is rapidly embedding its code. I cannot stop it. I think the explosion damaged the main console, sir."

"Translation: someone is hacking into the _Enterprise _and we have no way to stop it," supplied Sulu grimly.

Spock's face remained expressionless, except for the slight twitch of his lips downward. "That is impossible. Lieutenant Chekov, try to isolate the program within the matrix and eliminate it from there."

"I cannot, sir," said Chekov as the ship whined and the lights went out for a moment. "Ve hawe lost control."

"Lieutenant Uhura, do we have communications with Engineering?"

"Negative."

"Reestablish the lines. Doctor McCoy, you are accompanying me to Engineering. Medical may be needed. Lieutenant Sulu, you have the con."

"Not so fast," came a new voice from behind them.

Everyone turned to see a man dragging Scotty beside him with a phaser pointed at the Engineer's head. He was around his thirties and had short, orange hair. There was scruff on his chin and upper lip. He was tall and built, like Giotto (or Cupcake, as Kirk called him); clearly he was strong, because he held a waking Scotty up with one hand. Behind him stood sixteen other men, all carrying phasers. Two of them were Redshirts; Spock recognized one to be Ensign Joshua Sean and the other as Ensign Percival Weston. The others wore a tan short-sleeved undershirt with dark blue scrub-like pants – the outfit of a prisoner.

No one had noticed when the turbolift had arrived, carrying the escaped prisoners and their hostage to the Bridge. In the chaos that the explosion had caused, they were able to travel from the Brig to here easily without anyone pausing to stop them.

"Don't try anything," warned the leader. "You're outgunned and outmanned, even with your precious Vulcan over there. Anyone even move a finger and you're dead. Am I clear?"

He nodded to his comrades and they moved cautiously towards the Command crew. They always had one man point their phaser at a crew member while the other tied them up with ropes and chains, in Spock's case. Scotty was thrown mercilessly next to McCoy who shifted so that he caught most of the Engineer's dead weight. He had blood dripping down his face and McCoy could feel worry eat at him. Head wounds were always tricky and they often bled more than other injuries, but he couldn't fully assess how hurt Scotty was unless he had his hands free and the man awake. By the sounds of Scotty's growing groans, McCoy guessed that he'd be in a world of pain in a few minutes.

"What is it that you want?" Spock asked, his emotionless voice coming out as cold when he was forced to sit down beside his captured friends at the helm.

"Isn't it obvious? We want this ship."

"Your faces and names are well known in the Federation. Your infamy will not allow you to maintain control of this vessel for long, Mark Smith."

"Oh, you know who I am?" smiled Smith.

"You were convicted of several counts of murder as well as espionage. As such, you were sentenced to a two-hundred and three-four year sentence on the penal colony Tantalus V."

"I see that the Vulcan memory isn't exaggerated, but you're a little dumber than I expected. Of course I don't plan to _keep_ the _Enterprise._ I'm not stupid. Flying around in the Federation's Flagship is like putting a giant bulls-eye on my back. I ain't having that. No, I'm going to get me and my boys to a planet in the Cardissian system and well, let's just say that that's as far as the _Enterprise _is gonna get," Smith smirked and turned to a younger, emancipated man with silver hair – a Redshirt. "Weston, get your ass over there and start navigating this thing."

Weston nodded and quickly took Sulu's seat. With no hesitation, he immediately bypassed Sulu's passwords and began inputting in coordinates. It was clear that Weston was the one that had done Smith's dirty work – he was the one to implant the code and had probably transfigured something in Engineering to be able to override the codes that were too difficult for him to handle. Security was especially tight when a seventeen-year-old Russian genius and a Vulcan worked together. There was no other option, which was why they both had to be kept within sight.

_Enterprise _began to hum as she went back online and started to move, albeit slowly.

"So, you got what you wanted. What are you keeping us around for?" snarled McCoy.

"You've got guts, Doctor. It'll kill you one day."

"Seems like I'm gonna die either or, so might as well die defiant 'til the end."

The man standing beside Smith started chuckling.

"Something funny, Sean?" spat McCoy, eying the man in the Redshirt. Damn it. He had treated that guy for a broken finger just the other day!

"Yeah, it's just interesting that you would be exactly like Kirk in his last moments. Defiant. He was still trying to save Lieutenant-Commander Scott when he couldn't even see straight."

Everyone in the Command crew stiffened.

McCoy hissed. "What are you saying?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Sean smiled wickedly, "I am sorry to inform you that Captain James T. Kirk was caught in an unexpected explosion in Engineering today."

Smith's grin matched Sean's. "In other words, your precious Captain is dead."

* * *

Jim wasn't dead. Not by a long shot, but he did get knocked out, though he wasn't quite sure for how long. He hissed as he struggled to pick himself up from the floor. Breathing in all that ash was bound to set off some sort of reaction and Jim just didn't want to hear that particular lecture from Bones. He groaned as his shaking limbs gave out on him again and he collapsed heavily against the ground.

"Damn it…" he breathed, closing his eyes as he tried to categorize his injuries.

Everything hurt. He had been so close to the explosion that he didn't have much time to throw himself to the side and hide behind another console. He hadn't expected a chain reaction and couldn't fully protect himself when his shield burst into flames as well. He was blown a few feet away from his original position to where he was now. The brunt of his wounds was concentrated on his back – luckily, he had escaped anything severe…well, he hoped. He was sure that there were a few burns and lacerations from the flying shrapnel – those he could handle easily, but there was also a deep, aching pain towards his lower right back. He had felt that kind of fire before – it was synonymous to that time he was stabbed. Shit. Had a piece of shrapnel managed to get buried in him?

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he reached behind him to grope blindly at the wound. His fingers came into contact with a large, jagged piece of metal. Fuck…this was going to hurt – even more so than his throbbing head.

"_Greetings, crew of the _Enterprise_,"_ came a voice on the loudspeaker. _"This is your new Captain. There's been a change of command and destination. I would just like to tell you all that if anyone decides to try anything, I will kill one member of your crew every ten minutes, starting with your beloved Command. I hear Vulcans bleed green. I'd be happy to see if that's true." _

There was annoying, chastising laughter that made Jim grit his teeth in fury.

"_That's all. Good day and go burn in hell."_

Fuckers…if anyone was going to burn in hell, it was going to be them.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins and without hesitation, Jim jerked out the impaling metal in one swift motion. He bit back the scream that followed and breathed heavily as he tried to blink out the flashing lights in his vision. But the pain was good. The pain cleared his head and made his mind begin to turn so quickly that it would have made anyone else dizzy.

Agonizingly, he forced himself up and staggered back to the burning console. His vision blurred and he was sure that he was leaving blood trails, but he didn't care. His crew was in danger, his ship was damaged. He had to do something.

Eying the panel before him, Jim reached forward and pulled out several wires, twisting and crossing them before reconnecting it. Then, he moved on to grab the PADD that was connected to the console and angrily started typing on it. After a few minutes, he proofread the enormous code that he had programmed before inserting it into _Enterprise's_ system. Satisfied, he pushed himself onward, leaning against the wall for support.

He could barely see, but he knew this place like the back of his hand. Two more feet and he knew that his knee would bang into something metal. Grinning, he reached down and numbly unscrewed the gate to the vents.

It was time to show those felons that you didn't mess with James Tiberius Kirk or the people he cared about.

Heads were going to roll.

* * *

"Hikaru, do you think that Keptin is dead?" whispered Chekov, his thin voice broken and choked with emotion.

"Of course not," Sulu replied hurriedly, "Kirk always has something up his sleeve."

"Jim Kirk does not die easy," McCoy said back in hushed tones. "Y'all know that better than anyone. It'll take more than a simple explosion to kill him."

Uhura nodded. "Scotty said that Jim wasn't completely knocked out when they left. That would still give him plenty of time to scramble for cover."

"Ah bet my entire supply o' Glenfiddich scotch whiskey tha' Jim'll figure somethin' out."

McCoy smirked. "Did you see the expressions on those bastards' faces when we didn't react to what they said about Jim? Priceless."

"Clearly, they don't know _anything_ about our crazy-ass missions," snorted Sulu. "How many times has it been when someone said Kirk was dead and he was far from it?"

"Eleven," replied Spock. "The last time, Captain Kirk was found to be playing an alien form of Roulette while drinking merrily with his 'captors'."

Leonard smirked. "Jim can't resist being in the spotlight. He'll come. And he'll be obnoxious about it too."

"Shut up!" shouted Smith from the Captain's chair. "Your Captain's dead!"

"Did you actually see him die?" asked Sulu.

"Did ya see him blow up?" prompted Scotty.

"Did you find the Keptin's body and see if he is still alive?" questioned Chekov.

Smith bristled, "No, but…"

"Then you can't actually say that he's dead," Uhura interrupted. "Sure, the probability of him dying is high, but you forgot to factor in something."

"And what is that?" snarled Sean, stepping menacingly forward. He didn't daunt anyone though.

Spock finished their tirade. "He is James Tiberius Kirk. For reasons that escape me, the laws of logic do not apply to him."

The rest of the Command crew almost burst out into laughter at Spock's words.

"Then let me rest any doubts you may have." Sean squatted down before him so that he was at eye level. "Kirk couldn't even move _seconds_ before the console blew up. The blast would have set off another explosion of the surrounding consoles. Anyone who was in a ten foot radius of the bomb would have died, and your Captain was _inches_ away from the origin. What is the probability of him surviving? Hmm? Logic that out."

"The probability is less than 1.26%," Spock responded.

"See?" grinned Sean.

"But you fail to understand that that means Jim has a 1.26% chance of surviving. And that's more than enough for him," retorted McCoy.

"You guys have obviously lost your minds from the grief," sighed Sean, shaking his head as he straightened and turned back to face Smith.

"Ain't denial such a beautiful thing?" chortled Smith.

"Be careful…" warned Sulu. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

"Then it's fortunate that I'm not a religious man. Now shut up or we'll shoot you in the knees. I'd rather hear you moaning."

But Smith really should have listened, because in the next moment, there was a crackle of static and then suddenly, Jim's voice was broadcasting all over the ship, echoing resolutely.

_ "To the felons currently occupying the Bridge, this is Captain James T. Kirk speaking. I would like to commend you in your _surprising_ abilities to overcome my crew. It's a feat in itself to take down my command, let alone take over the _Enterprise_. Too bad it's not going to work."_

The sarcasm and patronizing edge in Jim's words were not lost and the Command crew merely gave the felons a "I told you so" grin as Jim kept talking.

"_You made three mistakes. The first is underestimating me. Seriously? I'm James fucking Kirk and you don't even bother to check if I'm actually unconscious or just faking it? And then you leave me _alone_ in Engineering. But then and again, I don't think you realized that, aside being the best fucking Captain in Starfleet, I'm also a bit of an engineering genius. Don't feel too bad. Not many know that I'm a man of many talents. The little rerouting you attempted to make by blowing up a part of the control panel has been reversed and I've actually added my own changes to it."_

Smith shot a look at Weston who had run around and was now frantically punching in codes at Chekov's station, but his efforts to open a sub-route around Kirk's codes failed at every turn. There were too many layers, too many complex pathways that Weston couldn't even make heads or tails of what was in front of him.

"Weston, what's your status?" barked Smith. He stood, his hand fingering his phaser.

"I can't bypass his codes! This is at least twenty times more complex than the original and some of these programs aren't even Terran!"

Chekov and Sulu shared a smirk. Though they were surprised, something like this was somewhat expected of Kirk nowadays.

Jim continued in that same gleeful tone that made McCoy want to stab his best friend with a hypospray. He knew what that voice meant. Jim was planning something, and he knew he wasn't going to like it.

"_I'm sure your 'clever' hacker has just informed you that he can't get past my firewalls. My programming tends to be too advanced for minds like his, so don't be too disappointed in him. It's not his fault that he's just not on par to our standards, which, might I add, is set by a _seventeen-_year-old. You should have known that it would take much more than your third-rate hacker to even make a dent in our firewalls."_

_"Your second mistake was trying to take over my ship. Did you really think it would be that easy? To make my command crew lay low on the Bridge of all places and still expect this to be smooth sailing? You see, I'm a bit of a tactical mastermind as well and as my crew can tell you, I'm quite the creative one. Well, you'll experience that personally soon enough."_

Spock raised an eyebrow at the subtle hint that Jim had given them. Slyly, he caught Nyota's eye. In an instant, she understood the silent message that the Vulcan was trying to send her. She nodded and nudged Chekov and Sulu beside her while Spock did the same to McCoy and Scotty. Slowly and surreptitiously, the command crew maneuvered themselves around their bindings so that they lay on their stomachs, flattening their bodies to the ground in preparation for whatever their insane Captain was planning.

_"Your last and worst mistake, my dear gentlemen, was that you tried to and succeeded in hurting some of my crew. And for that,"_ Kirk's cheery voice suddenly turned cold and dripped with venom, _"I'm coming for you."_

The announcement abruptly cut off and the felons glanced at each other warily. Spock noticed that their body language had tensed and everyone but Smith was 87.3% more nervous than before. Their fingers had subconsciously tightened around the trigger of their phasers.

Then, suddenly, the Bridge was sent into a state of darkness and the felons sprang to their feet, crowding around each other. Jim had no doubt cut the power. Spock had no idea _why_, but even in the blackness, his sharp Vulcan eyes could see that Jim's actions had made their captors afraid and unsettled – more prone to making mistakes.

There was a whirling noise. The command crew snapped their heads towards the familiar sound of the turbolift working. Confusion now filled them. Even Jim wouldn't be foolish enough to just attack head-on…but then and again, this _was _James Kirk they were talking about. They wouldn't put it past Jim to pull it off.

The felons gathered towards the entrance and raised their phasers, pointing it expectantly at the turbolift. As it slowly started to open, their postures became more rigid as the adrenaline rushed through their bodies. The doors flung wide open and the sudden burst of bright lights blinded the armed men for a split second.

In that exact same moment of distraction, a shadow dropped down from the vents, landing lightly and silently by the Captain's chair. With the lighting provided by the empty lift, the command crew easily recognized their Captain who was just wearing the blacks of the Starfleet uniform. Without sparing his crew a glance, Jim straightened and took a couple of steps forward, standing unnoticed behind the felons.

The lights of the turbolift suddenly vanished as the doors closed once again, plunging them all into darkness just as Jim's pre-recorded voice came overhead again.

"_Oh, there's one more thing I forgot to say…"_

Jim waited for dramatic effect and then leaned over Weston's shoulder.

"Boo."

Weston let out a yelp at Jim's breath against his ear and accidentally shot his phaser, hitting one of his teammates. Thinking that it was Jim who was attacking, the rest of the felons started to fire blindly into the dark as well. McCoy let out a quiet curse when a wayward shot hit the wall a few feet above his head. If they hadn't been lying down because Jim told them to, they would've been caught in the crossfire.

In the chaos that ensued, grunts of pain could be heard as flashes of the phaser shots gave the command crew snapshots of bodies falling to the ground. They held their breath, hoping that none of those thudding sounds came from their friend and Captain.

The ambush ended as quickly as it started. Harsh breathing was the only sound that could be heard now.

Then, "Computer, lights at 100%," Jim commanded.

The Bridge was bathed in lights and the command crew had to blink a few times to adjust. Before them, the sixteen men that had taken them by surprise lay in various positions all over the floor near the lift. Some stared lifelessly at the ceiling while others writhed in pain from phaser wounds or physical attacks, no doubt from Jim.

Smith had it worst. Jim was standing over him, his foot planted firmly on the felon's back between his shoulder blades, pressing him against the hard floor. The Captain had Smith's phaser in his hand, pointing it directly at the man.

"You're lucky that I'm a nice guy, Smith. Otherwise, you'd be dead by now." Jim cocked his head slightly, his blue eyes shining far too brightly with adrenaline, "But then and again, you threatened my crew. You'll pay for that."

And then he fired without hesitation. Smith slumped to the ground boneless, much to the surprise of his friends.

Clearly satisfied, Jim casually tossed the phaser aside. "He's _really _lucky my phaser was set to stun," he said as he stepped around the felons to reach his crew.

Squatting down before them, he shook his head. "Come on, guys. We've taken down Romulans and Klingons before. Aren't you ashamed to have been captured by the likes of them?" Jim joked as he reached into his right boot and pulled out a knife.

Uhura looked baffled. "You hide a knife in there?"

Jim just smirked, "Want to know what else I have hidden on my body?"

"No," Uhura said quickly, ending what was bound to be a sex joke, and rolled her eyes.

He released Scotty first, who gratefully used his free arms to wipe away the blood dripping down the side of his head. "Ye got good timin', Jim."

"Not good enough, apparently. Sorry I couldn't stop them from hitting you on the head," Jim replied softly, cutting through Bones' bonds so that the doctor could whip out a tricorder to treat the Scottish engineer.

Scotty just shook his head. "Same 'ere…"

He then moved on to Spock, who helped release Nyota, and Sulu who then freed Chekov.

Jim straightened, glancing back at the men sprawled around. "Commander Spock and Lieutenant Sulu, get these men off my Bridge and into the brig," he said, his voice taking on his "Captain tone" that made everyone snap to attention. "Chekov, reprogram the _Enterprise_. Weston had some tricks up his sleeve, so I had to insert codes to make the _Enterprise _respond to my commands only. It's a little complicated, but it's nothing that someone of your caliber can't handle."

He turned to his Communications Officer, "Uhura, once he's finished, send out an all-clear, but only after we're sure that Spock and Sulu have them secured in the brig. I don't want a repeat of what just happened. There's only so many times that I'll climb through those damn dusty vents for you guys."

"Aye, Captain!" they saluted, a smile on their faces before they went off to obey him.

When they had gone to their respective stations, Jim frowned at Bones administering first aid to his Chief Engineer. "Bones, how's Scotty? There was a lot of blood when he first got hit."

"He'll be fine. No concussion or anything. Just a scratch."

Jim visibly relaxed. "Good. Scotty, if you feel up to it, head down to Engineering and fix our girl. I didn't have much time so I just did what I could to patch her up. It won't hold for long though."

Scotty sprang up, ignoring Bones' quiet cussing. "Aye, Capt'n! I'll have 'er perfect before ye know it."

Jim smiled at his friend's enthusiasm and watched quietly as Scotty scurried past him to hit the turbolift where Spock, Sulu, and the piled felons waited for Chekov to reroute the _Enterprise_.

McCoy stared at Jim, thinking hard. Something was off. The Jim he knew was cocky and when he could showcase his bouts of ingenuity, he liked to preen about it. But this Jim seemed more content to watch his crew bustle about obeying his commands. And he didn't even attempt to offer a hand to help the doctor up. Jim _always_ helped, especially because he was such a tactile person.

"Jim, you alright?" asked McCoy, standing and leaving his medical supplies on the ground.

Jim turned. His blue eyes were too bright for McCoy's liking and he was holding himself in a manner that favoring his right side, though he seemed absolutely normal to an untrained eye.

"Bones, do we have anyone else injured?"

He shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"I passed by the Sickbay when I was crawling through the vents. I think Nurse Chapel and the rest of the medical staff were locked in because I messed with the codes. Hopefully, Chekov will fix it quickly." Jim's voice held an odd tone to it, as if he sounded thoughtful, but Leonard was stuck on a specific part of his sentence.

"Crawled through the vents…" McCoy repeated, his voice filled with disbelief. He could've kicked himself. How did he miss the first time Jim said that?! "Dammnit, Jim! You're allergic to almost every variant of dust! What if you have an allergic reaction?!"

McCoy jerked around and rifled through his medical kit, looking for a hypospray filled with something that wouldn't kill his best friend.

"Bones…"

"Does your throat feel tight? Are you having problems breathing?" McCoy asked instead, cutting Jim off.

"_Bones…"_

There was a choked need in that one word and Bones felt a cold panic take over his chest. He turned; his eyes widened at the sight of the small pool of blood at Jim's feet. Reacting more on instinct than anything, he jumped forward, just as Jim collapsed into his arms.

"Jim! _Jim! _Where are you hurt?!" McCoy rushed, catching the attention of everyone around them.

Jim's face was buried into Bones' shoulder and he murmured, but nothing that McCoy could make out. He started to lower Jim gently to the ground when his fingers touched a warm, wet patch at Jim's lower right back. Jim hissed and Leonard pulled his hand away to see crimson blood covering it.

"Shit! Dammnit, Jim! Why didn't you say something?! Spock, I need your help!" he shouted, his Southern accent coming out.

By the time the Vulcan was by his side, Leonard had already laid Jim down on his stomach and cut away his black shirt. Uhura had come around on his other side and used someone's uniform to pillow the Captain's head so that his face wasn't pressed against the floor of the Bridge.

When the last strips of Jim's black shirt fell away, Bones hissed when he saw the jagged wound bleeding profusely. The deep laceration was about two inches long and it looked as though something rusty had punctured Jim. There were burn marks around the small of his back and various scratches and bruises decorating his back.

"It seems the explosion that Jim spoke of was not to be taken as lightly as he indicated," Spock said.

"No shit, you damn hobgoblin!" snapped McCoy, already mentally cataloguing every single one of Jim's wounds. "Chekov, have you fixed the turbolift yet? I need to get Jim down to Sickbay. And unlock it, will you? Jim said something about actually putting it under lockdown."

"Almost," responded the Russian, "The Keptin incorporated some Wulcan codes that are wery hard to bypass. Giwe me one more second."

"Vulcan codes? When did he learn that?" frowned Sulu.

"Doesn't that require an in-depth knowledge of the Vulcan language? Does Kirk speak Vulcan?" asked Uhura.

"Now's not the time to talk about Jim's language proficiencies. Someone give me my bag. I gotta give him something before this gets infected."

Leonard's eyes never left Jim, but he held out his free hand expectantly while keeping his other one pressed on Jim's wound. Someone – probably Spock (because who else would know what was an antibiotic?) – pressed a hypospray into his hand. He checked the medication before releasing it against Jim's neck.

"I got it!" shouted Chekov as the turbolift whirled into action.

In seconds, Jim had been bundled up into Spock's arms and rushed to Sickbay, leaving Sulu, Uhura, Scotty and Chekov on the Bridge.

The four of them looked at each other, slightly overwhelmed at the whirlwind that their Captain had caused, and stared at the convicts that were still clumped by the turbolift.

In moments, a security team was called up and the criminals were removed from the Bridge.

About an hour of recovery later, it was as if the felons had never even escaped.

* * *

Six hours after the whole entire escaped prisoner fiasco, Jim was sitting up in a biobed with his patented "eat-shit" smirk on his face. Now that it was Beta shift, his Command crew had used their free time to check up on him. Sulu and Chekov stood at the foot of his bed with Scotty and Uhura on either side of the two; Spock was posted at his right side, his posture straight like a soldier. Bones was sitting on his left side, his fingers pressed against the upper bridge of his nose as he tried to look for what little patience he had left.

"So let me get this straight," Bones started, "You managed to dodge the main explosion while concussed. Then, bleeding and burned, you rewrote the _entire_ code for the _Enterprise_ in a matter of minutes while simultaneously fixing parts of the burned wiring so that the ship would still function properly. You then proceeded to crawl through hundreds of feet of vents, some completely vertical, and took down sixteen armed men by yourself, who, may I add, was already injured with a two inch puncture in his back _and_ unarmed. Did I get that all right, Jim?"

"Well, I have to admit, wiring _Enterprise_ to only listen to my commands was all that I had actually planned. The rest I came up with seconds before I started my broadcast."

"_You winged it?!"_ shrieked Uhura. "All of it? How is that even possible?! You got them to take each other out with a plan that you figured out within seconds?"

"It was more like a minute, but yes, I didn't exactly have much time. And I'm a brilliant man. We all know this," winked Jim.

"I would like to know how you were able to complete the engineering tasks without any prior training," Spock said. "Though crude, I cannot deny the ingenuity of your programs."

Scotty looked confused. "Ye weren't aware tha' Jim could do tha'?"

"I had no knowledge that Jim knew more than the elementary basics of engineering."

"Same here," muttered Sulu. "But why am I not surprised?"

"Jim 'ere is easily the best Engineer ah have ever met, second to me, o' course."

"I took a couple of advanced Engineering classes back at Starfleet," explained Jim. "I was always good with machines. I mean, I built an old-fashioned motorcycle from scratch. And, I was bored. Bones had gotten busy with clinic work so I needed something to fill up my evenings."

Sulu let out a low whistle and Chekov's eyes sparkled as he worshipped Jim more. And Jim just grinned broader.

"Unbelievable…" groaned Uhura. "He's going to be insufferable for the next week."

"Tell me about it," snorted McCoy. "But he's your problem after tomorrow."

"You're a terrible, terrible man," Uhura retorted.

Leonard grinned. "I know."

Jim rolled his eyes before suddenly sitting up straighter when a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Oh, and can someone retrieve Scotty's PADD? I think I left it up in the vents. I couldn't exactly bring it down with me to a fight."

There was a sigh of frustration. "Damnnit, Jim! I can't even figure out how you managed to fit in there in the first place!"

"Keenser will do it," said Scotty. "He knows the vents just as well as ye do, Jim."

"Which is another question of itself," added Sulu.

Jim flashed a wink at Chekov. "Chekov knows the answer to that one."

Chekov smiled and nodded, almost bouncing on his feet. "Keptin and I had a race of who could trawel through the wents the fastest."

"Why?" Uhura asked in disbelief.

"Why not?" shrugged Jim.

"I von!" shouted Chekov.

Jim chuckled. "Any other questions?"

"How do you know Vulcan codes?" Spock questioned, his tone completely serious.

"I like puzzles and Vulcan programs are basically labyrinths within labyrinths. It was intriguing, so I learned how code them. I used to create Vulcan programs just to trip up my professors. Haven't done them in a while though. Probably was pretty easy to penetrate through those firewalls, huh?"

It wasn't and Jim knew that they knew it, not that he'd show it. He got a kick out of seeing the expressions of people when they had completely underestimated him.

Spock's eyebrow rose. "Fascinating."

"Alright, alright," McCoy said gruffly as he stood, "Everyone out. He may be a genius, but he's an idiot that needs to rest."

Jim beamed, "Aw, Bones. I didn't know that you thought so highly of me."

In a movement faster than Jim could trace, Bones had jabbed a hypospray into his neck. "Wha…?"

And then he fell back against his pillow completely unconscious.

Bones pocketed his handy hypospray and rolled his eyes. "After all that, you get taken out by a hypospray?" He shook his head fondly as he ran his fingers through Jim's short hair. "You ingenious idiot."

* * *

So, I want you all to know that firstly, I don't have any prior knowledge in electronics, technology, programming, or anything related to engineering, so if I sounded redundant or made some grievous mistakes, please let me know and I'll fix it. Secondly, accents are really, _really_ hard to write out. Again, if there are issues with Chekov's Russian/slightly Polish (I think pronouncing 'v' as 'w' is characteristic of Polish, according to Wikipedia) accent and Scotty's Scottish, please let me know too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Again, feel free to request, but please do it through review. I don't know why, but somehow it's easier for me to go through reviews than PMs.

The next chapter should be up soon (after finals because I should actually put in some effort to study...sigh...) and for those who are reading my other stories, the last chapters of those should also be worked out and posted soon too.

Thanks for reading and please review!

~ Kanae Yuna


	2. A Magician Never Reveals His Secrets

I just want to say thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! They all really make my day. :)

Anyway, I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I am extremely new to this fandom and I've only watched to movie, so I have no real in-depth knowledge of the _Star Trek_ world. The planet/natives I have depicted in this chapter is all made up. I don't even have a name for them. Anyone want to give me a name for the world/people, I'll be happy to change it. Also, I took a lot of liberties with Kirk's past. I probably made up everything, but it makes him seem more badass, so I hope no one will have issues with it.

One other thing - I don't really have any other chapters planned after this, so it's all up for grabs. I'll write based on requests, so let me know. I'm kind of thinking some psychic attack that makes Jim relieve Tarsus? What do you guys think? And I know they're a lot of different versions out there, so can anyone write me a review of the general accepted versions? Thanks!

Ah, I think that's it. Again, let me know if there's any discrepancies and whatnot. Otherwise, please enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any _Star Trek _franchise.

* * *

**II**

**A Magician Never Reveal His Secrets**

It was supposed to be a routine mission. All they had to do was beam down, compile in-depth data on the newly found planet and its inhabitants, and report their findings to Starfleet. From the little information that Spock could find, they had discovered that these unnamed species of aliens were similar to humans and their culture paralleled the native Indians of ancient Northern America. Uhura had determined that their language was close to Terran Spanish, something that she was fluent in, so Jim reluctantly had to bring her along, just in case they couldn't communicate properly.

Kirk had originally planned to have a small landing party composed of Spock, Uhura, a couple of Redshirts, and himself, but Bones had somehow managed to get himself on that list, much to Jim's chagrin. Bones' reasoning had something to do with Jim still recovering from an allergic reaction from accidentally eating a peanut a couple of days ago. Either or, Bones wasn't quite ready to let Jim out of his sight, so Jim was forced to bring his grumbling best friend along.

Bones had grouched all the way to the transporter room and by the time they were ready to be beamed down, Jim was ready to punch his friend in the face. Only Spock's raised eyebrow had stopped him from doing so, saving him from getting hyposprayed and decapitated by a retaliating Bones before they transported down to the surface of the planet.

Their surroundings had been desolate – full of dry, cracked sand and arid heat. It didn't take long for the natives to notice their presence. The primitive race had never seen technology more advance than the creation of bow and arrow and had flipped out in panic at their arrival. Uhura had acted quickly, speaking to them in a soothing tone. By then, they had already been surrounded by lethal looking spears, but thankfully, the natives paused in their war rampage long enough to listen to Uhura. Her beauty had enthralled them and she easily captured their interest.

Jim had paid attention to their conversations mostly by watching the natives' body language. He had barely made eye contact with a couple of the dark and bare-skinned natives when he realized that they were getting more agitated, but not to whatever Uhura was saying. They were staring at him and Ensign Franklin Vero who was standing beside him.

Spock and McCoy had both noticed as well and subconsciously shifted closer to Jim. Jim glanced at Vero and tried to figure out what about the two of them that was troubling the natives. The Ensign was pale-skinned, like him, but had brownish hair. He was about two inches taller than Jim as well. Jim frowned, still unable to make any connections when Ensign Vero gave him a confused look. And then Jim connected the dots, but a fraction of a second too late.

There was a vicious cry and suddenly, one of the natives sprang forward, stabbing his spear into Vero's neck.

Vero gurgled with surprise written in his dulling blue eyes before he collapsed onto the ground. Fury racing through his veins, Jim leapt into action. He stepped into the native's space and quickly dispatched him with a few sharp jabs to his solar plexus.

And then it was a full out war.

McCoy and Ensign Carl Latissimer flicked out their phasers, shooting at whoever came near them; Spock and Jim had raced to Uhura's side and defended her as she tried to contact _Enterprise _with no avail, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the natives who were all shouting angrily. Within minutes, it became clear that they weren't interesting in anyone but Jim.

All their attacks had focused on their Captain and if Latissimer hadn't thrown himself behind Jim, Jim would've been killed by a spear to the back. Despair and anger filled Jim as he saw his comrade fall. Instantly, he raised his eyes to take in everything before him to calculate their chances of survival. He could see more natives running to join in the fray and they were ridiculously outnumbered.

There was only one scenario where Jim could be sure that his friends would live.

He raised his arms in the universal sign of surrender and shouted loudly over the fray in the natives' tongue, _"I give myself up!"_

Uhura snapped around, hissing, "What the hell are you doing, Kirk?!" She was too shocked and confused at what Jim was saying to even be awed by his ability to speak Spanish.

"They have something against blue eyes," he said back quietly, and then to the natives, _"Let my friends go. They have done no wrong. Let them go and I will go with you willingly. No more fighting!"_

The leader lifted a hand and the natives instantly stepped back.

"Jim, what the hell are you doing?!" growled McCoy, panting slightly from the exertion of dodging and fighting.

"Saving your asses."

A pause. "You mean, saving 'our' asses, right?"

Jim flashed McCoy his patented smirk, "Sure, Bones. Sure."

Panic flushed through McCoy and he reached out to grab Jim, but Jim smartly stepped away, only to be caught by Spock.

"Captain, what are you doing?" the Vulcan asked quietly.

Jim just ignored Spock. _"I apologize for offending you, great leader. It was not my intention. My friends have no fault in this matter. Do what you will with me, but leave them alone."_

"_You are a demon! A devil! We will have nothing to do with your kind!" _screeched a native.

"_You must die! You must be sacrificed! Or we will all suffer! You all must perish!"_

"_The others do not have the same colored eyes as I do. They _will _not participate in your ritual!" _snarled Jim.

The leader raised his hand and silence fell. He approached Jim. _"Your friends' fates will be determined at a later time. For now, you will come with us quietly, or we will kill them here."_

Jim nodded and the natives enclosed upon them. Jim was roughly torn apart from his friends, his arms tied behind his back and a rope around his neck. McCoy shouted loudly while Spock and Uhura struggled harshly against the bondages that were quickly being wrapped around them.

"Relax, guys. You'll be fine. Promise," grinned Jim before a burlap sack was shoved onto his head. Within seconds, he was dragged wordlessly away from his friends while the rest of them were pulled towards another direction.

They had been literally been overpowered, overmanned, to the point that even Spock could not manage to release himself to save their Captain. Instead, they found themselves thrown into an archaic iron prison with old-fashioned shackles. Their communicators had been dismantled and torn apart; their phasers destroyed and thrown into a fire.

Within the hour of them landing, the crew of the _Enterprise_ was imprisoned – their future was bleak.

And the fate of Captain James T. Kirk? Unknown.

* * *

When Kirk's hood was lifted away, the first thing he saw were the same brown-skinned natives that had captured him. Within seconds, he had taken in his surroundings. It seemed that he was being kept in some underground hideout; the crude walls were carved out of stone, the floor was dirt, and torches were hung around the room as a form of light. There were hallways that curved and were no doubt a maze – well, as far as Kirk could tell when he was blindfolded.

Now, he was placed in the center of a large room and tied to a pole. He tested his bindings, feeling the coarse rope chafe against his wrists, but the knots weren't too sophisticated. Jim had escaped from worse. All he had to do was create a diversion so that he could slip out and find his friends – that is, before the natives decide to skewer, burn, or eat him for having blue eyes. What the hell was with that anyway? Why blue of all colors?

Jim could feel the guilt chew away at his insides. The two Redshirts he had brought down – Ensign Vero and Latissimer – were both young and inexperienced. He was sure that Vero had a fiancée that was commissioned on another ship and Latissimer was well on his way to become second-in-command of _Enterprise's _security. Giotto (Cupcake, Jim mentally corrected) had even taken the twenty-eight-year-old under his wing and the three of them had enjoyed a few poker nights here and there. Jim never liked the idea of sacrifice – he personally didn't feel he deserved such loyalty. He would have much rather be leaving behind than left behind, not that he could. Survivor's guilt was something that Jim was all too familiar with, and he hated it with such a passion that he felt a fire of anger erupt within him at how helpless and weak he was to stop it all.

And he would be damned if he let down Bones, Spock, and Uhura.

Keeping his eyes down so that the sight of the cerulean hues would not set off the natives, Jim kept a close watch on his captors. They seemed to have split into three different factions – each fighting for the sake of saying that they had captured the "blue-eyed demon". After listening for a few minutes, Jim figured that the heads of these factions were actually brothers. There were jabs from one to the other about their mothers, but never about the father, so Jim assumed that they were half-siblings paternally. He strained to make out their fast speech, picking up words like "honor" and "kill". Ah…it kind of made sense now. In their culture, it must have been considered the highest honor to be able to capture and kill a blue-eyed demon, and now, the siblings were fighting over who could have the honor of saying that they caught Jim.

He grinned. Wreaking havoc was always one of his strong suits and he had more than enough information now.

"_Hey!" _he shouted in Spanish. _"I heard that one over there tell his little friend that if he doesn't get this honor, he's plotting to off both of you in your sleep."_

Anger yelling filled the small cavern and the brothers began to prod and push physically at one another now.

"_The other one said that he's sleeping with your mother!" _Jim continued. _"He wants you to know that your mother loves him more than you, especially when he's holding her tightly in his arms."_

"_Don't listen to him!" _exclaimed one of the brothers, _"He's lying! He's a demon! He wants us to fight, brothers!"_

"_That's right, I'm a demon." _Jim bared his teeth, _"Which means I can read the darkest secrets hidden deep within your hearts. I speak only of the truth. Besides, he is only nervous because he has long planned for the demise of the two of you _and _your mothers, but not before he violently and viciously rapes them."_

That pushed them over the edge. Quite frankly, Jim was expecting to have to put a lot more effort into picking at the strife between the brothers, but he was lucky to have caught them when they were already under such tense terms.

Roars of anger echoed against the stone walls and spears clashed. Bodies fell to the ground, covering the brown dirt with blood.

Jim dropped low, squatting down to keep out of view. Quickly, he worked at the ropes, tugging and relaxing at specific intervals to weaken the material. After a few minutes, he felt some of the twine snap and instantly, he pulled hard. The ropes broke apart and he was free.

The civil war was still going on around him and he leapt to his feet, throwing himself into the fray. There was so much chaos, so much bloodlust in the air, that Jim was easily able to sidestep his way through towards the singular exit. He was meters from it when he felt a sharp pain rake across his upper right arm. Hissing, he glanced at the wound and up at the person who incurred it, ready to defend himself, but it seemed that it had been a lucky hit and the natives were still too occupied to notice Jim's escape.

The injury itself was shallow, almost like a paper cut, so Jim paid it no attention and pushed forward. He realized minutes later that he really shouldn't have underestimated how prone he was to danger. His vision had begun to blur and his breathing had become more difficult. Heat coursed through his body in flashes, making his muscles cramp and spasm. Even his sharp mind had begun to slow slightly, already shoving up barriers against the pain as he tried to detach himself from it.

Shit. The freaking blade had been poisoned.

Bones was going to kill him, but that was if Jim found him in time.

Jim used the wall as support and kept walking down. He had no idea where his friends were being kept, but he had learned long ago to trust his instincts, especially when it came to directions.

No matter what, he would find his friends, even if he was just a little bit too late for himself…

* * *

"Doctor McCoy, will you desist in pacing back and forth? I assure you that it will not pass the time any faster," said Spock. He was sitting in the center of their cell (he had deduced that it was four feet by six feet in seconds that they were placed there) in his familiar lotus position. At first, he had planned to mediate in order to grasp a hold on his emotions. This had been the fourth time that Jim had willingly put himself into a dangerous situation in order to protect others, which usually involved Spock, and the Vulcan felt an odd rush of anger, irritation, and worry that were supposedly completely illogical. However, his attempts at trying to understand the enigma that was James T. Kirk had been thwarted over and over again by McCoy's incessant mutterings and pacing.

"Shut up, you hobgoblin. I'll do whatever I damn well please. They have Jim and God knows that the hell they're doing to him!" snapped Leonard, "Why the hell did they target him and Vero anyway?"

Spock just raised his eyebrow, as if saying "beats me", if he actually used such colloquialisms. Meanwhile, Uhura, who was sitting beside Spock, kept her eyes glued to the floor as she thought back to the few seconds that she and Jim had conversed.

"Kirk said something about blue eyes and that he had offended them," she said slowly.

"Ensign Vero had genetically blue irises as well."

"So the natives have an irrational prejudice against people with blue eyes. Figures that those pretty blues of Jim's would get him in trouble over and over again," snorted McCoy.

"In that case, what do you think they're going to do to him?" asked Uhura.

"Beats me. But Jim is mighty fine attached to his eyes. They're one of his best selling points. If anything he'll kick everyone's ass just so that he can use them to charm others again."

True to his word, in the next minute, the door slammed open, revealing Jim leaning heavily against the frame. His face was a sickly white pallor and covered in sweat, but he still smiled brightly at his imprisoned crew.

"Yes! I finally found you guys!" he exhaled, his tone slightly breathless, yet relieved.

"Jim, you alright?" Bones asked, concern overcoming his relief.

Jim waved aside Bones' question and staggered up to the bars. Using the metal as support, Jim reached out for Bones who readily rushed up to greet him. Bones' keen eyes caught sight of the shallow laceration on his friend's right biceps and opened his mouth to demand some answers.

"Not now, Bones," Jim rasped as his fingers enclosed on the Starfleet pin on Bones' shirt.

Spock's eyebrow rose in confusion at Jim's actions until the Captain fell heavily on his knees, blinking blearily for a brief second before pulling off his own pin. With shaking fingers, he nimbly inserted a sharp end from each of the insignias and twiddled around for a couple of minutes. There was an audible click and Jim smirked, jerking down on the archaic lock. It fell to the ground with a loud clunk.

"How do you know how to pick locks?" asked Uhura, her eyes wide.

"Genius farmboy, remember?" Jim laughed a little breathlessly as he struggled to his feet. "Besides, a magician never reveals his secrets…"

He swung the barred door open and stepped into their prison. Immediately, Spock turned around to give Jim better access to the manacles that bound his wrists together. Wordlessly, Jim unlocked Spock and let the metal fall before turning to Bones.

Shouts were beginning to echo down the hallway towards them and Spock glanced around, looking for a potential weapon. With a barely hidden grimace, Jim bent to draw out the knife he kept in his boot and tossed it to the Vulcan.

"Don't lose it," quipped Jim just as he released Bones and moved on to Uhura.

Once free, McCoy ran out of the prison cell and rifled through a box where the natives had kept their possessions. Only their communicators remained, but that was all he was looking for.

"McCoy to Enterprise, do you hear me?" he said, but there was no response. He groaned, realizing that the stupid thing wasn't even working anymore. "Damnnit! What the hell did they do to these things? Jim, what can you do with this?"

Bones threw the communicator towards his friend, but Jim fumbled with it before dropping it in an unsuccessful catch. Uhura managed to snag it out of the air before it fell to the ground and broke to pieces.

Now, all three of his friends were staring at Jim, frowning. They all knew that Jim's reflexes were insanely quick. To not have been able to catch something as clunky as the communicator – it meant something was very, very wrong.

Within a few steps, Bones was already beside his best friend, scanning him with trained eyes, but he couldn't see anything past the small cut on Jim's arm. He was briefly distracted as the yelling natives came rushing in with their swords and spears flashing.

Spock had been ready for them and with a few quick movements, he sent the first couple crashing to the ground, unconscious.

"Spock, don't let them cut you," Jim said with almost a resigned sigh, "Their blades are poisoned."

Bones' eyes widened and he whirled on Jim, gripping his left bicep tightly. Instantly, Jim sagged in his grasp, letting out a small, muffled sound of pain.

"Damn it, Jim! How long has it been since you've been poisoned?!" Bones demanded, shifting to help set his friend to the ground so that he was sitting comfortably against Bones' chest. He kept one hand on Jim's wrist to take his pulse – it was too fast and thready – and the other on Jim's thorax to count the blonde's respiratory rate that was much too shallow and quick for Bones' liking.

"What?" Uhura turned around, reaching out to touch Jim's forehead. "Leonard, he's burning up!"

"Shit! And I don't have my medkit on me! Jim, do you know what kind of poison they used?"

Jim shook his head and held out a trembling hand towards Uhura.

"What is it, Kirk?" she asked, confused.

"The communicator…give me…"

Numbly, she handed it to him. As quickly as he could with his fingers shaking, he took it apart to reveal the wires within it. With practiced ease, Jim stripped three of them and rewired a couple with some complex maneuvering amidst the bundles of wires. There was a spark. Satisfied, Jim reconnected the covering and smacked it once. The noise of static greeted them and Jim handed it back to Uhura with a smirk on his face.

"That should work now…"

The look of disbelief and doubt on her face would have been amusing if Jim could work his way through the fog of pain.

Suddenly, Spock was kneeling before them. "There are more soldiers coming. We must leave now if we are to escape."

His brown eyes settled on Jim's weak form and didn't even think before gathering his Captain into his arms. There wasn't even a sound of protest from Jim, which made Bones' heart sink. It was worse than he had thought, but he didn't have the time to check on his friend. Not when he was pushed to his limits to chase after a Vulcan.

Behind him, he could hear Uhura calling out to _Enterprise _on the communicator, but by the sounds of the static and her increasingly frustrated words, there was some sort of jamming signal that prevented them from connecting with Chekov. It was baffling. These natives had spears and bows, but yet they had something that prevented even the _Enterprise_ from communicating with them? Spock figured that it had to do with their atmosphere being slightly negatively charged – it was probably enough to distort any radio or electrical waves that were transmitted from Starfleet's flagship.

They rambled down the stone hallways, turning and stopping at various points to avoid detection.

"Do you know how to get out of here, hobgoblin?"

Ignoring the name that McCoy used, Spock merely nodded. "I had memorized the exact path when they brought us in. We are almost out."

There was a hesitant pause as Spock glanced down at Jim. The Captain's eyes were closed and his right hand was weakly clutching Spock's shirt in what he deemed as pain. Jim hadn't made any noise during the entire time and he was shaking more. Even Spock could feel the heat radiating from Jim through his shirt. It didn't take someone with as high of an IQ as Spock to know that Jim needed medical care, and _soon_.

"Doctor…" he started to say.

"I know," McCoy interrupted tersely, his worried expressions on the borderline of panic, "But we gotta get outta here and find some shelter before I can help him. Or better yet, get us back to _Enterprise_. There isn't much I can do without any of my supplies. Hell, I don't even know what poison they gave him! And with his luck, he'll end up being allergic to it!"

Spock nodded with a tint of concern in his dark-brown eyes. "I recall a cave located approximately 1.2 miles away from here. I suggest we make haste before the natives are able to assemble a party to chase us."

"Lead the way, hobgoblin."

* * *

McCoy and Uhura were slightly bent over, their hands on their knees as they panted heavily to catch their breath again. Their sides burned with each gulp of air as they struggled to regain their strength. McCoy was sure his muscles were going to hate him the next day and he had that damn Vulcan to blame. It wasn't that the good doctor wasn't out of shape. In fact, he enjoyed the occasional jog, as did Uhura, but to keep up with a worried Vulcan? It would be difficult even if it was Jim.

Speaking of which, McCoy watched as Spock gently lowered Jim down onto the hard ground of the small cave. The crevice in the mountain wasn't deep, but its entrance was hidden from view by a few well-placed trees and bushes. Though it was damp and cold, it was the best that they could manage so far.

The moment Jim's body touched the floor, he quickly curled in on himself. His fingers clutched at his sides as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself. He was gripping so hard that his knuckles were turning white and his nails were digging into his flesh. There were driblets of blood on Jim's lower lip where he had been biting himself, no doubt to muffle any sounds.

Noticing the self-imposed injury, Spock immediately rubbed a comforting hand against Jim's cheek. "Jim, cease biting yourself."

Jim's only response was a small, muffled sound.

McCoy knelt down beside his friend, his skilled hands probing and checking Jim for obvious injuries. He lightly pressed against Jim's chest and the latter released a loud hiss.

"You have a couple of cracked ribs, Jim. We gotta straighten you out or you'll put pressure on them," McCoy said gruffly.

With obvious difficulty, Jim obeyed, keeping his eyes squeezed shut the entire time. This time, he couldn't keep back a choked moan, let alone keep the pain off his face. He felt too hot, like everything inside was burning and liquefying. Every movement sent sparks of stabbing agony racing up and down his nerves. And the fires only grew more and more, making the pain grow with each passing second.

Jim was no stranger to pain. He hadn't had the best childhood, growing up with that bastard of a stepfather, Frank, and surviving Tarsus IV. And that didn't include all the various times he had been captured and tortured while in Starfleet. But this experience…it was the icing on top of the cake. He could feel himself cracking with each passing second. His mind couldn't focus; he couldn't breathe. The pain had taken command of his everything.

"B-bones…" he whispered, opening his dull blue eyes to plead with his friend, "Make it s-stop…"

There was a grief on Bones' face that was so strong it almost made Jim nauseated, that was if he could feel anything past the fires consuming his body. "I'm sorry, Jim. I don't have anything with me, but we'll be back on _Enterprise_ soon and you're gonna be fine. You hear me?"

Jim just whimpered, letting his head sink back down onto the ground.

"Goddamn it! Work!" came a frantic scream from Uhura. There was nothing but static still coming from the communicator. Tears welled in her eyes as she glanced over at Jim's shaking body. Her friend and Captain was lying on his back, his head Bones' lap, and his face pressed against his friend's stomach. She could hear him struggling to breathe from where she stood; she could hear the muffled whimpers even as Bones drew Jim closer in to him.

Then she saw Spock. The Vulcan's expressionless face had twisted. There was fear and panic within his usually stoic features. He grimaced every time Jim's muscles spasmed, making his entire body twitch, ending with a groan. She could see his hands reach out in an attempt to help, but fall helplessly at his side, clenched into tight fists.

She felt her heart sink. This was it…their friend – no, _brother_ – was going to die in front of them and there was nothing they could do but watch.

Then there was a slight change in the static, making Spock's head snap up towards her.

Instantly, she raised the communicator up to her lips, "Uhura to _Enterprise. _Come in _Enterprise_! Please!"

"…_-hura…sig-…jam…"_ came the broken voice. _"Two…sec-…"_ And then a heavenly voice filled the cave. _"I got it!"_ Chekov's voice broke through. _"Enterprise here."_

"Four to beam up! Now!" she snapped. "Kirk needs medical attention immediately!"

"_Ah have ta reroute the transporter around the jammin' signal. Give me five minutes,"_ said Scotty.

Right then, Jim's back arched completely off the floor, his mouth open in a silent scream. His hands grasped wildly for anything that could ground him.

"Jim doesn't have five minutes!" McCoy yelled from where he sat, "Beam us up!"

There was sound of clatter and loud cursing from the other end, but no one in the cave paid it any attention.

All eyes were focused on Jim who had managed to weakly grab Spock's bare wrist with his sweaty hands. He looked up pleadingly at the Vulcan – the once vibrant blue glazed. A single tear made its way down from the corner of Jim's eye to disappear into his hair near his ear.

"P-please, S-spock…" he gasped, "I c-can't…"

Spock's entire body went rigid at Jim's touch. A gasp escaped the Vulcan as his eyes went wide. Even with his shields up full, he could feel Jim's agony bleeding through, like a rampant wild fire that had grown so hot that Spock's body was reacting to it, threatening to fall apart too.

Without hesitation, Spock reached out, pressing the bundle of nerves around Jim's neck. Jim instantly fell unconscious, slumped in McCoy's arms. His grip on Spock loosened and his hand fell limply against his stomach.

And then there was silence.

McCoy looked at the Vulcan in confusion.

Spock could only shake his head. "He was in so much pain…" Spock whispered, horror in every word. "_So_ much pain…"

And then familiar white lights surrounded them.

In the blink of an eye, they were back on board the _Enterprise_. McCoy could have kissed Nurse Chapel for standing at the ready with a stretcher, the medkit specific to Jim, and a small team of medical with her in the transporter room.

Instantly, he began barking orders as he jammed a hypospray into Jim's neck. Before Uhura could even react, Jim had already been whisked away to the Sickbay with McCoy close by his side. Usually, by then, Uhura would have felt a small wave of relief because Leonard wouldn't let Jim die. He _couldn't_. Jim was safe in McCoy's hands, but she felt nothing of the sort now. Not when Spock was still kneeling on the floor of the transporter pad in the same exact position he was in when he Vulcan pinched Jim into unconsciousness. Spock was frozen; his emotions leaking through. There was horror, panic, and worst of all, fear written in his eyes. Whatever he had felt when Jim touched him was haunting him, so what did that mean for Jim?

"Commander, are you alright?" asked Chekov.

Spock startled at Chekov's voice and looked up. Surprise was evident in his expressions before it was swiftly schooled into a cool mask.

"I am fine," he said quickly before standing up. "Lieutenant Chekov, please return to the Bridge and plot a course to the next system. We have compiled enough data on this planet to determine that the inhabitants are much too primitive for the Federation to even consider forming an alliance. Have us set off within ten minutes."

"Do you hawe a specific place in mind, sir?"

"No, but we are leaving this place as quickly as possible. Lieutenant-Commander Scott, you have the conn. If I am needed, I shall be in Sickbay."

Spock's words were curt and he almost ran out of the transporter room to follow McCoy.

Scotty and Chekov shared a frown before turning to Uhura for an explanation.

Uhura shook her head, tears in her eyes, "Kirk was poisoned…he didn't look good."

"He'll be alright, lass," said Scotty, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me." He turned to Chekov, "Lad, you 'eard the Commander. Get yer arse to the Bridge!"

Chekov hesitated.

Scotty easily understood. "We'll keep ye updated on the Captain. Now get. Doesn't do us much good standin' around 'ere doin' nuthin'."

Uhura watched the young Navigator leave before doing the same herself.

Scotty didn't need to ask where she was going. He would have joined her to stand guard by the Sickbay himself if he hadn't had to run the ship. "Let us know when Jim's awake, a'rite?" he called after her.

"Of course."

And then she was gone as well.

The Engineer shook his head, muttering to himself. "What kind o' trouble did ye get yerself into this time, Jim?"

But as always, there was no one to answer his worries.

* * *

When Jim awoke, there was only darkness. There was no white ceiling of the Sickbay, no bustling nurses and clattering of medical equipment. There was no Bones hovering over him and scolding him like a child. For a brief moment, Jim actually thought that he was dead, but the fire within him had not yet subsided. It was less than before – when he had been burned alive in that damp cave – but it was still there. Needles were stabbing deep into his muscles, making them scream and yelp in agony. It was so hot, so agonizingly scorching, that Jim felt so cold, like he had been trapped on Delta Vega again.

He shivered, unable to stop his body's tremors, triggering a flare of pain. A small cry escaped his lips and he clenched at the blankets that lay over him. Suddenly, there was a comforting hand, caressing his face and soft murmurs that were all so familiar.

Jim opened his eyes and saw a disheveled Bones sitting beside him. He cracked a smile at his best friend. "B-bones…" he croaked.

"Hey, kid," Bones said back softly. "Welcome back to the living."

Another flash of agony and Jim couldn't stop his back from arching or the whimper that he let out.

Instantly, Bones was leaning over him, running his fingers through Jim's short hair. "Ssh…it's going to be alright, Jim. I'm sorry. I know it hurts, and I'm sorry. The poison the natives used binds to the pain receptors in your body. Even with Spock's antidote, it'll take some time for it to flush out of your system and for those messages to stop being sent. You'll be fine in the morning, but for now, you'll have hang on, alright?"

Jim groaned, "Those f-fuckers…"

Bones let out a wet chuckle. "Yeah, those fuckers, but Spock was able to make an antidote real quick after I gave him a vial of your blood. If he was late by a few more minutes, we woulda lost ya, Jimbo. Don't want to admit it, but your hobgoblin really does come through in a crisis. I can see why you always insist that he beams down with you."

"I d-don't…Spock is the one…who in-insists…" Jim stuttered with a small smile, only to have it replaced with a grimace of agony.

Wanting to distract himself with anything, Jim let his eyes wander. He couldn't make out much past Bones' face and he felt confused. Sickbay was _never_ this dark. Ever. It was just impossible with all the machines and equipment.

"Where am I?" he slurred.

"Your quarters. I figured that you'd want to be somewhere private while this thing runs its course."

Jim let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks…"

He let his eyes close as he tried to detach himself from the pain; his body would not cease trembling and a coldness had settled over him. He shivered and reached out blindly for his best friend. Bones would make it better…he always did.

"B-bones…c-cold…"

For a brief second, Bones' hand disappeared and Jim couldn't stop small wave of disappointment that rushed through him. He shouldn't have listened to what his past had written into his instincts because the next moment, the bed dipped and he felt Bones slip under the covers next to him and lightly pulled Jim towards him.

Jim pushed his face against Bones' chest, using his best friend to muffle any sounds that he was making. His fingers entwined within Bones' shirt and clenched ever so often when the pain reared its ugly head.

Bones just murmured quiet nothings into Jim's hair and continued to rub Jim's shoulder comfortingly. The doctor had helped warm Jim somewhat, but it wasn't nearly enough and Jim continued to shiver, his moans stifled against Bones shirt.

There was a hiss of the bathroom door opening and Bones glanced up to see Spock stepping in wearing his casual blacks. McCoy had almost forgotten that Jim and Spock shared a bathroom. Why that was, he would never know…

Within seconds, Spock had approached them, assessed the situation, and raised an eyebrow at Bones.

"I came to inquire about the Captain's condition," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Is the antidote not working as it should?"

"It worked fine. He'll be all right by morning," McCoy responded, his words just as quiet. "Poison just gotta flush outta his system."

Spock nodded, standing awkwardly by the side of the bed.

Suddenly, a violent shiver racked Jim's body and a choked sound escaped his lips. Spock froze and cocked his head, as if trying to figure out what was going on.

McCoy rolled his eyes. "He's cold, you hobgoblin."

"Shall I retrieve another blanket?"

"It won't help much. His body is focusing on fighting the poison so it's not producing any heat. It's gotta be external."

"I see."

Then Spock disappeared, bending down.

"What are you doing?" asked McCoy.

"Is it not obvious that I am taking off my shoes?"

"I figured that, you dumbass. I'm asking why."

"Then you should rephrase your sentence more accurately next time around, Doctor."

"Would you shut up?"

Spock ignored him and lifted the corner of Jim's blanket and slipped into bed.

"What are you doing?" hissed Leonard.

"Vulcans have a much higher body temperature than humans. You informed me that Jim is in need of external heat. I believe that I can be of help."

As Spock pressed closer to the Captain, Jim made a contented sound and subconsciously moved closer to the Vulcan. McCoy opened his mouth to protest, but at the sight of Jim's face relaxing in increments, Leonard held his tongue. In minutes, the heat under the covers was overwhelming and Bones felt sweat dripping down his back, but it soothed Jim. His breathing slowed and gradually, he fell asleep wrapped up between his two best friends.

Bones smiled as he ran his fingers within Jim's hair again.

The worst was over.

* * *

The temperature in Jim's room had been raised five degrees to a sweltering heat. He had been propped up with several pillows on his bed and smiling like a fool as he watched (and enjoyed) Bones coddle him like a child.

"Bones, I'm fine," sighed Jim as Bones tucked the blankets around him again.

"Yeah? Lift your hand for me then."

Jim just gave him a smile, "You know I can't."

"Then shut up."

The poison had left Jim's system by daybreak, but it left him as weak as a newborn lamb. Even now, it took most of Jim's energy to keep himself upright. Still, the poison was gone and the fires were finally quenched. And for that, he was grateful.

When Bones finally looked content at Jim's tricorder readings, he settled down at Jim's desk with his PADD out and began typing up the reports he had put off while he was treating Jim.

After a few minutes of silence (well, silence on Bones' part), Jim had to break it. "Where did Spock go?" he asked. He remembered that Spock had, sometime during the night, crept into his bed. As awkward as it was to be sandwiched by his two best friends, he had to admit, he had been far more comfortable than he would ever say out loud. And he was extremely touched that Spock – a touch telepath – was willing to break all of his physical barriers to ensure that Jim was warm enough. It was the same with Bones, though Jim always knew that the doctor had a soft spot for him, as Jim did for him.

"The hobgoblin went to the Bridge for his shift."

Jim hummed. "I'll have to thank him later and apologize."

"Why apologize?"

"I shouldn't have touched him in that cave. I knew that he'll feel everything. Shouldn't have put him through that…"

"I don't think he'll hold you accountable for your actions, Jim. You were poisoned, remember?"

A pause. "Yeah…I remember…" Jim breathed.

Bones set down his PADD. "Do we need to talk about this, Jim?"

Jim leaned back and closed his eyes. "No. I was poisoned. It hurt. That's about it. This wasn't Tarsus, Bones. Not even close."

There was a knock on the door. Before Bones could snarl at the visitor to piss off, Jim called out tiredly, "Come in!"

The door slid open, revealing Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, and Spock pressed around the narrow entrance.

Jim cracked a smile. "Hey, guys. Come on in."

They piled in and surrounded Jim's bed. Jim could read the worry off their faces and body language, especially when he made no move to sit up straighter or readjust himself so that he didn't as vulnerable as he did. They took in his pale face, the dark circles under his eyes, and his relative inability to do anything, for that matter, and their concern only increased.

"I'm fine," he sighed. "Relax, guys."

Uhura glared at him.

Jim rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll be alright. Just need to recover for a couple of days and I'll be good as new."

"You know, I think we need to make it a rule that you're never allowed to beam down, Kirk," joked Sulu. "Ever."

"I second that," McCoy added.

Jim opened his mouth to argue back and no doubt run loops around them, but Uhura cut him off fast by changing the subject. "Kirk, how did you get out to come save us?"

"Escaping was a lot easier than you'd think. A few taunts here and there about one guy screwing the other's mother and before you know it, there's a sibling war for the title of chief. I escaped in the chaos, but some bastard got a lucky hit in. Didn't realize that the blades had been poisoned until I was halfway down the hallway to you guys."

"You started a civil war within _minutes_ of being captured?" gaped Sulu. "Even you can't be that good."

Jim just gave them his shit-eating smirk.

Uhura rolled her eyes. "And where did you learn how to pick locks?"

"I spent some time in my early teens wandering the world. I picked up a few tricks here and there from odd jobs over the years."

"Let me guess, you worked as a magician at one point."

"I was an escape artist. I just say magician because it's less of a mouthful."

"And is that where you learned Spanish?"

"Nope. I learned Spanish as a bartender in Barcelona."

"Wait, Kirk is fluent in Spanish _and _Vulcan?" exclaimed Sulu.

"The Keptin is also fluent in Russian," added Chekov.

"Card shark in Moscow," explained Jim. "I spent the longest time there. I think it was about six months? So I guess I can pass for being a magician. I did learn some pretty neat tricks in Russia." He winked at Sulu and Chekov, "I'll show them to you next time we play poker."

"Captain, you stated that you traveled Earth in your early teenage years. Am I correct in assuming that you conducted your travels alone?" asked Spock.

Jim froze for a split second before his smiling, indifferent mask came back into place. "Yeah, I went off on my own. Winona sent me off-planet when I drove a car off a cliff and I was…unwelcome when I returned. So, I took off. People liked to hire me because I'm a genius and always learned fast, despite how young I was."

Instantly, they all knew that Spock had forced Jim to reveal more than he had intended because McCoy jumped into action, preventing any further questioning.

"Alright, everyone out. Our idiot of a Captain needs to rest," Leonard said gruffly.

"Genius. Genius of a Captain," Jim corrected, eliciting a few chuckles from his crew as they turned to leave.

"Wait, Spock. Can you stay for a minute?" asked Jim.

Spock merely nodded and waited for the final "hope you get better soon" murmurs from the rest of the crew as they left.

"Spock, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have grabbed your hand like that in the cave," Jim said.

"Apologies are not necessary, Jim. My barriers held strong and I was able to relieve you of your immense pain."

"Then thanks are in order. Thank you, Spock, for everything. I know it wasn't easy for you and I appreciate it."

Spock gave a short nod. "I believe the Terran saying is: 'thanks are not needed'. I was merely assisting a friend in need to the best of my abilities."

Jim beamed. "You're the best, Spock."

"That's enough emotion for the day," grouched McCoy, "Out, hobgoblin. Jim needs to sleep off the aftereffects."

"Understood. Please let me know if further assistance is needed."

McCoy snorted, "A Vulcan butler. Only Jim could make that happen."

Spock's eyebrow rose. "I was not offering my services in that manner, Doctor. I was offering my assistance in keeping the Captain on bed rest until he is fully recovered."

Now, Leonard looked confused. "Why? We're not in Sickbay where there're holes that Jim can slip through."

"While that is true, I believe that we may have to reassess the Captain's ability to 'skip town', as the saying goes. He has revealed that he spent some time as an escape artist, which increases the likelihood of him disobeyed strict orders to rest by 74.2%."

McCoy's eyes widened as he realized the full extent of what Spock was saying. He turned, meaning to threaten Jim, but Jim was nowhere to be seen.

"Damnnit, Jim!" snarled McCoy as he rustled around his belongings to find his comm and begin a ship wide search for their missing Captain. "How the hell did he get past us anyway?!"

Spock glanced over at Jim's bed when something small and white caught his attention. He took a few steps over and picked up the square piece of paper with a few words scrawled on it.

"Doctor," Spock called out and waited until Leonard was beside him to show Jim's note.

"_A magician never reveals his secrets…"_

That set off a stream of curses and bodily threats. Jim would come to regret pulling this escape on his best friend, but he simply couldn't resist after figuring out what Spock was about to say.

McCoy angrily pulled on his blue uniform over his black undershirt and stormed out, muttering "ingenious idiot" and numerous insults under his breath.

The Vulcan followed the doctor out and watched as he stomped down the hallway, snapping at every unfortunate soul that accidentally crossed paths with him. Spock looked down at the small sheet of paper in his hand and allowed himself feel amused by it, letting his lips quirk slightly upwards.

Ingenious idiot indeed…

(Jim was later found sitting on the Bridge, chatting animatedly with the Command crew and Scotty before McCoy and Spock both appeared to bring him back to his quarters to rest. Needless to say, the next time anyone saw their Captain was a few days later when he was completely recovered. It was another week before Jim even dared to be in the same room as McCoy who never failed to stab their genius Captain with a hypospray.)

* * *

Well, that's that. I hope you enjoyed it! Again, I don't really have any plans after this, so this will only be updated if I get a request that I fancy or some other sadistic idea pops into my head. Lol!

Anyway, happy holidays, everyone!

Thanks for reading and please review!

~ Kanae Yuna

**Edit (12/24/12): Some reviewers informed me about Starfleet's Prime Directive (or something like that) and how Starfleet would actually never form an alliance with primitive cultures, so I went back and fixed it so that they were exploring an unknown world and gathering data instead. Thanks for letting me know! I didn't know that Starfleet didn't do that sort of thing, seeing how all my knowledge comes from the movie, but I'm glad people pointed it out. I like to be as true to the original as possible. Please let me know if these changes work (just a couple of rewording in a couple of sentences in the beginning). Thanks again and sorry if I upset anyone!**


	3. Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

I am so sorry for the late update. I honestly couldn't really think of how to write this and I'm still really worried about it. I took so many liberties and whatnot, so please let me know if I made any mistakes.

Yes, this story is about Tarsus. And about any possible childhood abuse Jim may have had when he was young. I really just wanted to emotionally bash the poor man, and who am I to deny all those requests for this kind of story. I hope it makes sense. Again, really, **really** nervous about this chapter. It's also much longer than my previous ones. Um...not sure if I showed Jim's genius this time around. Really hard to do with a Tarsus story, but I tried.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please review and let me know how I did!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any _Star Trek _franchise.

* * *

**III**

**Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew**

Jim's luck sucked, but you couldn't really blame him. The universe just liked to slap him and then kick him while he was down. In other words, Jim was the worst sort of trouble magnet in the _entire_ universe, and that was saying something. Quite frankly, when Jim thought back to it all, he still wasn't quite sure how all this started. Their mission wasn't difficult and it didn't even require beaming off the ship. All they had to do was pick up a decorated Betazoid Ambassador from his home planet and bring him back to Starfleet for a universal world-peace summit. Simple, right? But in hindsight, the crew of _Enterprise_ should've known that nothing was ever as easy as it seemed with James T. Kirk as their Captain. And this time, it was Jim that needed saving.

* * *

Jim had personally invited the Betazoid onto his ship and delegated a couple of Redshirts to show the Ambassador to his quarters. Soon after, Jim had returned to his seat on the Bridge with a frown on his face. He couldn't shake the dark, ominous feelings he had and he wasn't one to ignore his instincts. Something was off, but he couldn't seem to place it.

The Command crew had noticed their Captain's unusual silence, but couldn't pinpoint the cause.

"Captain," said Spock from where he sat at his console, "Is there something that is troubling you?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing much, Spock. Just..." Kirk paused, pondering. "Did the Ambassador seem weird to you guys at all?"

"Seeing how you and I were the only ones to greet him, that question is not applicable to the rest of the Command crew."

Jim rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Spock. He didn't give me a good feeling."

"You were in his presence for 2.4 minutes. By what criteria are you using to determine what gives you a 'good feeling'?"

"Don't give me that, Spock. You felt it too! And don't tell me that I'm being illogical! Every fiber of my being is telling me that that guy is trouble."

Uhura swung around in her chair to face Jim. "Or you're just upset that he isn't a _she_," she teased.

"Quite contrary to beliefs, I _can_ keep it in my pants, you know!" spluttered Jim.

"Not according to half the female population back at Starfleet Academy," Sulu joined in with a smile.

"You know that ninety percent of those are exaggerated rumors! Look, I'm serious! That guy is bad news."

Chekov gave him a smirk, "Are you sure that it isn't because you hate diplomatic exchanges, Keptin?"

Kirk threw his hands in the air. "It's mutiny, I tell you, mutiny!"

The crew (minus Spock) snickered, but they knew to trust their Captain's insight. It had saved them countless of times before. Even as they laughed, they felt the seed of doubt growing in their hearts. Spock thought back to his brief encounter with the Ambassador. The Betazoid held himself regally and behaved as he should. Yet, Spock remembered feeling slightly unsettled when he realized that the Ambassador's pitch black eyes never left him for a second. Not to mention that Spock felt as though there was a void surrounding the alien - as if there was a certain dark cloud encompassing him.

"It does not hurt to be sure of the Ambassador's status," Spock surrendered, "Lieutenant Uhura, please send all files concerning the Ambassador to me."

Uhura nodded, letting her slender fingers sweep across her console.

"Sulu, locate where the Ambassador is right now," Kirk commanded, "I want to know where he is at all times."

"Yes, Captain."

Jim turned to his First Officer. "Spock, the Ambassador psychically inclined, right?"

"All Betazoids are naturally born telepaths, Captain," Spock responded in a tone that almost seemed like he was lecturing a child.

Jim resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I know that. I may just be a farm boy, but that much I know. I just want to know if the Ambassador is capable of psychic attacks."

At this, Spock tilted his head thoughtfully. "Unless the Ambassador is one of the few Betazoids who are born with their telepathic abilities active, I highly doubt that he will be able to cause any severe damage to psi-null humans such as yourself."

"And there is no indication that he is that powerful of a telepath, correct? He can't hurt crew members who aren't trained against such attacks?"

"Unless the Ambassador is not who he says he is, no."

Kirk gritted his teeth. "Chekov, hack into the Starfleet database and get a current picture of the Ambassador. I have a feeling he isn't who he says he is."

"Vhy do you say that, Keptin?" asked Chekov as he obeyed Jim's command.

"I didn't like the way he kept staring at Spock."

Silence fell and all eyes turned to look at him.

Jim actually had the decency to blush. "Not in that way, guys. Heads out of the gutter. It's just he looked far too happy to see Spock. I mean, seriously. It's just weird."

"Well, Spock is a pretty good looking Vulcan," grinned Uhura. "Jealous of a little competition, Kirk?"

Jim groaned in frustration. "It's literally impossible to get my crew to obey me, isn't it?"

"Oh, we obey," grinned Sulu, "Doesn't mean we can't make it difficult for you."

"Where's Scotty when I need him? He usually stands with me."

The cheery atmosphere was shattered when Chekov swallowed hard at the data in front of him.

"Uh oh..."

Jim instantly snapped to attention at Chekov's worried tone; his entire playful manner was replaced with confidence and strictness. "Elaborate, Lieutenant Chekov."

"I hawe found a picture of the Betazoid Ambassador, but he does not look like the man who came on our ship."

Chekov flicked his finger and let the picture of a large, rotund man with long dark curls come onto the screen. He was a far cry from the lanky, tall man with short, white hair that had come on board.

"Shit! Spock, red alert!"

"Too late," came a cold, drawl.

Jim heard the turbolift close before screams and yells erupted all around him. A sharp, probing pain burst within his head and he grimaced, unconsciously reaching to grasp his temples. Instinctively, he began to throw up more walls within his mind, protecting it from any further damage. Even with the stabbing pain, Jim instantly connected the dots to a psychic attack. Of course...it was just his luck. He really shouldn't have expected anything else.

He tilted forward, almost falling out his chair as he looked around him. Chekov had fallen to the ground, already unconscious. Sulu was lying not too far from the Navigator, his eyes slipping shut. Uhura had curled into herself with her back to Jim, but even without seeing whether or not her eyes were closed, Jim knew that she was in the same state as his crew.

Another thought passed through his mind. Alarmed, Jim sought out Spock, knowing full well that the Vulcan was also a telepath. His shields must have protected him or the attack could have done irreparable damage to the Vulcan. Jim sincerely hoped that it was the former.

Spock was still seated in his chair, just as Jim was, but his emotionless mask had been broken. The Vulcan had an intense look of concentration on his face and kept his right index and middle fingers pressed against his temple. It was obvious that the majority of the Betazoid's attack was focused on him, but he was still resisting and functional - that much Jim could tell. The unfortunate part was that it seemed that Spock was just as capable of moving as he was, which was pretty much limited to blinking and breathing.

Jim felt as if he was using all of his strength to turn around slowly, his entire body feeling numb and useless as his mind rallied against the intrusions. He glared at the Betazoid who stood a few feet in front of the closed turbolift. "So, who the fuck are you?" he snarled once he found the words, lashing out like a whip.

Surprise glittered in the Betazoid's dark irises. "I am astounded that you are still conscious, let alone coherent, Captain Kirk."

Jim couldn't help and smirk; it paid to keep his skill sets hidden from the rest of the world. "They don't call me the best fucking Captain in Starfleet for nothing. What the hell did you do to my crew?!"

"I merely arranged it so that they will not interrupt me as I speak to your Commander."

Spock gave the Betazoid a puzzled look. "I was not aware that we were acquainted."

"Forgive me, we aren't. I am called Z, Commander Spock. I have heard all about you and I could not resist meeting you in person."

"Oh, and why is that? You could've just sent a love letter, you know. It's much simpler. What did you do with the actual Ambassador?" growled Jim.

"Let us just say that the Ambassador had aged and was unable to resist my mind."

"You broke him, didn't you? To what end? Why _Enterprise_?"

"I have no interest in your petty little ship, Captain."

"Right then. I think I'm offended," Jim grouched. "What the hell did you come here then?"

Z took a step forward towards Spock. "I would like to get to know Commander Spock and his crew a little better."

The Betazoid paused, closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath. "Mmm...the hatred, the anger, and the sorrow that all your friends hold within their minds...it is simply delicious."

Jim's head snapped up, "You're feeding off their emotions?!" He paused, finally piecing everything together. "That's why you targeted Spock! After what happened to Vulcan, he's probably jackpot for you, isn't he?" More lines connected and he grinned ruefully. "But you can't access those memories, can you? Because you've never done any of your tricks on someone as trained and young as Spock. You can't penetrate his barriers."

The Betazoid's calm demeanor changed in a snap. Z's face twisted into a snarl as Jim's words struck the truth. "You will let me in, Commander Spock, or I will kill the rest of your friends with my telepathy," Z hissed. "And I can assure you that _that_ it is within my capabilities."

Jim could see Spock contemplating his options, but he wasn't going to make Spock relive his worst memories again. It was too soon and too raw - he wasn't sure that Spock could regain his control over his emotions so easily again. Even as much as he hated and feared this, Jim knew the sacrifice he had to make. He could win over Z's hold on his friends and come out the other end mostly intact. He had done it before and despite losing all forms of innocence and naivety, Jim had emerged stronger and hardened. Spock, on the other hand, was still recovering from the loss of his mother and Vulcan while Jim's emotions were firmly locked behind double-bolted steel doors.

Honestly, he fervently wished that there was another option. The familiar icy feel of fear was already licking at him. He had spent years running from his past and now, he had to hand it all up in a silver platter. It was either that or be selfish and be left with an emotionally crippled First Officer. That ended so well the last time…

As much as Jim loathed to bring up the nightmares that haunted him - the carnage and misery that followed him everywhere he went - he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he willingly let Spock suffer. No matter how Jim looked at it, he had no other choice. He had to give himself up to protect his crew. Internally, he shakily steadied himself and began his onslaught.

"You're a dumbass, you know that?" Jim taunted. "Did you even stop to wonder why you can't read my mind either? And I'm human! I'm supposed to be psi-null, and yet, you can't access my memories. I've got to be hiding so much, don't you think?"

Spock's eyes flickered towards Jim, confusion written all over his "expressionless" face.

Jim ignored him. "Don't you want to see what I have stored up in here? I'm a Starfleet Captain! There's bound to be _cesspools_ of anguish and anger. Probably more than everyone here combined. Why don't you give me a shot? Let the rest of them go and I'll give you my mind for free. I'll drop my barriers, no questions asked."

"Captain, what are you doing?" hissed Spock, alarm now coursing through him.

Jim ignored him. "I'll give you everything. From the very beginning," said Jim, determination making his blue eyes impossibly brighter.

"Interesting. I have heard of you, Captain James T. Kirk; I had not expected such stupidity from you. Nonetheless, I am intrigued. Very well. I shall release your friends if your memories satisfy me."

Jim gritted his teeth and rolled his shoulders back once, preparing himself for the hell that was soon to come. "Fuck...here goes nothing..."

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled, letting down all the walls, shields, and locks that guarded his mind and nightmares. Instantly, he could feel Z probing and shifting through recent years - _the overwhelming guilt of not acting fast enough to save Vulcan, the heavy burdens of sending his men to their deaths, the lives that he had taken and ruined from the very moment he sat on his chair..._

There was a vague sense of satisfaction bleeding from Z and in that moment, Jim grabbed onto him with his mind.

Surprise, shock, and anger that did not belong to Jim tingled his nerves.

'_You son of a bitch. You want anguish? I'll give you so much that you can't fucking take it,' _Jim snarled, drawing Z deeper and deeper in the dark, chaotic abysses of his memories.

As promised, Jim started from the beginning - _his birth seconds before the Kelvin was destroyed and fast forwarding to Winona's inability to look at him or even acknowledge his existence. He shoved all the pain he held of never knowing his father and never being able to escape his shadow; the agony of being unloved from the moment he was born and the emptiness that neglect and hatred had brought. Then, Frank came into the picture, bringing physical pain to the game. He could still remember all the pain of the years and years of broken limbs, cigarette burns, stitches, and bruises. He could still remember living each day, cowering in fear, too afraid to even breathe without permission. He pushed every tear he shed, every single scratch he endured onto Z, overwhelming the alien with his extremely vivid recollection until they both almost couldn't take it anymore. _

_Only then did Jim delve into the memories that began as a result of him driving the Corvette off the cliff once Sam left. Because that was when it became a whole new level of suffering..._

Z started pulling, struggling to escape, but Jim merely growled and held on tighter.

'_I'm far from done, you bastard...' _And Jim plunged into his worst nightmares, dragging Z down with him.

_Unable to handle his 'rebelliousness' anymore, Winona had shipped Jim off to her sister's off-planet - on Tarsus IV. At first it was amazing. Jim finally knew what it felt like to be loved, to be cared for, and to have friends – to _live. _For the first time in his life, he knew what it meant to exist, to be happy. Perhaps that was why it was _that _much worse when it was taken from him. It was as if someone how taken away all of the light in his dark, dark world. _

_Once the famine began and Kodos made his decree, his perfect world shattered and he lived like a dog to survive. His aunt and uncle died within the first few days, his cousins the first week. Whatever he had learned of love and family died with them. All that was left was anger, hatred, and guilt for not dying with them. Revenge overcame his mind; he couldn't let Kodos win. He wandered in the dark like a shadow, gathering supplies and food for the children that had been on the "kill-list", killing when needed and sometimes when it wasn't. J.T. kept his kids alive at any cost. And he meant _anything_. He was pretty and his blue eyes enthralled people - he knew this and would use it to his advantage. Sometimes, things got a bit rough and he bled and suffered, but he survived and he kept his kids safe. Didn't mean that he wasn't quickly being filled with such self-disgust and loathing of himself that there was nothing left by the time Starfleet came. Tarsus murdered every last piece of innocence that he had._

_He was only thirteen years old when he emerged, emancipated and barely alive, from Tarsus._

_He was only thirteen years old when he lost his will to live, becoming nothing more than a rabid dog whose only instinct was to survive to protect._

There was a shattering that echoed in Jim's mind and he knew that he had won against Z. Jim hadn't realized how easy it was to overcome the fake Betazoid Ambassador, or perhaps his memories were far more debilitating than he had ever realized. Either or, he was thankful that he hadn't needed to go into the years that followed - _Winona not caring whether he lived or died, his children taken away from him, and his wandering alone around the world without a home or someone who cared about him. The years of bar brawls and mindless, meaningless sex to actually feel something and see if he was still alive or just a shadow..._

He shook his head, pulling himself out of his reverie and let his memories taper off. He could feel the pieces of Z's broken mind scattered within his brain and he angrily threw each one out, not caring if he broke them further. Only then did he open his eyes to find himself on the floor next to his chair.

Z was lying close by, his eyes staring dully and almost lifelessly up at the ceiling. His chest lifted up and down as he breathed, but he didn't even twitch.

Around him, the Command crew had began to stir, clutching their heads and groaning. Jim knew that he should feel some sort of relief at the sight, but his emotions were still too raw, running rampant within his broken soul.

"Captain?" came Spock's soft voice to his left.

When had the Vulcan gotten so close to him? He flinched away, knowing full well that Spock was a touch telepath. It was enough that he had to relive his memories - he didn't need anyone else knowing what they were. He couldn't stand the pity or people looking at him differently. Yes, he had suffered. Yes, he was so fucking messed up, but he got through it. He didn't dwell on the past and he didn't want others to.

"Jim," Spock tried again when Jim didn't respond and wrapped his arms around himself tightly, making his entire body become smaller. "Jim, please speak to me..." Spock pleaded.

At that, Jim reacted and just shook his head. "Give me a minute. Just need some time..." Jim rasped out, fighting the unwanted tears.

He closed his eyes again and worked so meticulously to gather the raw memories and shove them behind doors, locking those within boxes and trapping them in labyrinths and mazes of walls that he erected. He didn't know how long it took for him to rebuild all the mental shields he had and he reinforced them even more harshly this time around, but he knew that they were only temporary. Even now, as he hastily constructed his walls, he could feel the cracks forming under the weight of his memories. He was standing on thin ice; his entire body tittering on the edge of a cliff.

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on his back on the Bridge, his head pillowed in Uhura's lap. Low murmurs surrounded him and he glanced around to see Bones hovering over him. Somebody must have sent for him and Jim felt a surge of relief rush through him. Here was one person Jim knew wouldn't treat him any differently.

He blinked blearily a couple of times as a sharp lance of pain shot through his head. His heart ached as he fought to shove down his rising emotions. Shit…he wasn't wasted enough to deal with all of this.

There was a tiny sound from the corner, distracting Jim for a second. He turned his head slightly and saw Z tied up against Spock's chair. The Betazoid was drooling and limp; his eyes stared at nothing. Jim swallowed hard and had to look away. If his memories were enough to do _that_ to a Betazoid, then what did that mean for him?

Another crack to his shields, and Jim knew the answer.

He was no different than Z.

He was broken too.

"I think the Keptin is awake," said Chekov quietly.

Immediately, Jim felt Bones' hand touch his cheek and Uhura's fingers carding through his short hair.

"Jim?" Bones called out cautiously.

Jim reached out and grasped Bones' other hand, squeezing it once. He could see Bones relax slightly at Jim's small reassurance. Using the doctor, Jim pulled himself into a seated position. He was fully aware of all the hands that reached out to help him and he waved them all away.

"I'm fine, guys," he sighed, trying to will the throbbing in his head to go away, "Just a little headache. Everyone alright?"

"Yeah," Sulu responded. "What the hell was all that? The last thing I remember was that guy strolling in and massive pain, and that was it."

"We have all suffered from a telepathic attack," Spock answered, his voice tight, strained, and distant.

Confused, Jim glanced around to realize that Spock was standing at a distance from them.

"Due to the barriers that the Captain and I had in place, we remained conscious long enough to identify what it is that Z sought. It seems that he fed off negative emotions and wanted more, but he could not penetrate our memories. Z threatened to kill all those present on the Bridge, so the Captain offered his mind in exchange for our lives."

Jim chuckled mirthlessly, "Damn bastard bit off more than he could chew, didn't he?"

Spock stiffened immeasurably, but enough for Jim to notice.

Dread filled Jim and he gaped at his first officer. "Spock, please tell me you didn't see anything..." he breathed.

Spock hesitated and that was enough of an answer for Jim.

Jim sprang to his feet and backed away from Spock like a cornered animal. Even with Bones, Chekov, Sulu, and Uhura around, Jim managed to skirt away from the Vulcan who had tried to reach out for him.

"Jim, I assure you that I did not see much. Only parts where your emotions reached a peak, making you broadcast your thoughts," Spock said quickly.

"Shit! As if that fucking makes me feel better!" snapped Jim.

"Jim, I cannot say that I understand what you are going through or what you went through. My understanding of human emotion does not delve deep enough to even begin to comprehend how you overcame your painful experiences, but I do know enough to thank you."

That stopped Jim in his tracks. "What?"

"At first, I could not conceive the notion that you, a supposed psi-null human, could create mental shields that are comparable to even mine. However, after these events, I can understand why and how it is you learned these skills."

"What's your point, Spock?" snarled Jim.

"Thank you for protecting me, Jim. I am...grateful."

Jim snorted at Spock's careful choice of words. "Before you get any wrong ideas, I didn't do it just because of you, so don't feel guilty. And don't give me crap about how you're a Vulcan and guilt is an illogical emotion. That's bullshit and you know it. That bastard said that he fed on emotions, right? I figured that if I let him in my head, I could break him and end all of this faster with no injuries."

"How could you have been so sure that your memories were enough to overcome him?"

Jim just smiled, his mask not quite hiding the depth of his pain as more cracks became pronounced in his mind, sending sparks of agony through his head. "Based on what little you saw, do you really need an answer to that question?"

When Spock fell silent, Jim clapped his hands with a large, obviously fake smile plastered on his face. "Well then, Sulu and Spock, take care of our guest. Chekov, you have the conn. And Uhura, let Starfleet know what happened. Apparently, Z killed or did something to the actual Ambassador. Bones, make sure no one has any aftereffects from the psychic attack. If anyone needs me..." He took a deep breath and his smile faltered a bit. "Well, try not to need me."

McCoy stepped forward, his hand reaching out for his friend, but Jim just shook him off.

"Not now, Bones..." Jim murmured.

When his blue eyes connected with Bones' hazel ones, Bones felt a coldness spread within him. In all the years Bones had known Jim, he had never seen the younger man so disquieted, so cornered. There was only one thing that could have sent Jim spiraling down this dark, self-depreciating road, and Bones knew better than to push. Because Jim was fragile when it came to his memories and he was too precious to Bones to risk shattering the thin walls that Jim had. At least for now. Sooner or later, someone was going to have to pull Jim out of the hole he was digging for himself.

With confusion and concern, the Command crew watched their Captain leave through the turbolift, his posture looking as if it was heavy with thousands of impossible burdens. Yet, none had the words to comfort their friend and brother - not even Leonard. For now, all McCoy could do was hope that this time, Jim hadn't buried himself too far to the point where even he could not reach him...

* * *

Jim staggered into his room, immediately stripping off his gold uniform and tossing it to the floor. He barely even spared it a glance before he stepped over it to rush to the bathroom.

He heaved the contents of his last meal into the toilet until there was nothing left but bile burning his throat. Tears sprang to his eyes as he shakily pushed himself away and leaned against the wall. His breaths came out harshly, as if he had run a marathon.

Goddamn it all...it had been years since Jim thought about all the shit that went down in his past. Sure, he had nightmares, but he never had to relive it memory by memory consecutively and so vividly. He didn't regret what he did to protect Spock and the rest of the crew. Better to have been him than them. He had had a feeling that Spock's memories wouldn't have been enough for Z and he would've had to step in anyway. At least this way, Spock was spared...Jim was used to this suffering - he had come to terms with everything over and over again. He wasn't sure Spock, the supposedly emotionless Vulcan, could piece himself back as quickly as Jim. Jim had had practice, after all, but it still didn't mean it was easy, especially with Jim's genius brain. Sometimes, it sucked being able to remember almost every single detail with just one look.

His mental shields were in place, but it wasn't enough to stop his memories from attacking him again. Through each break, Jim could see the lifeless eyes of his aunt and uncle and the lust within Frank's eyes. He could feel the hot breath of Kodos and his men on his neck and the sweat and grime on his body as he scavenged the dead for anything that could save his children. All the things he did, all the things he was _forced_ to do, just made him feel so damn dirty, as if nothing could ever clean the blood and dirt off his hands - just as nothing could make his scars disappear.

Unable to stand it any longer, Jim shoved himself to his feet and stumbled into his shower, turning on the water until it was scalding hot. He didn't even bother to shed his black undershirt, pants, or boots. He just let the water cascade over him as he leaned against the wall and slid to the floor where he curled up into a ball.

With one final crack to the flimsy walls that he had made, the dam broke. He closed his eyes and let the darkness succumb him.

* * *

McCoy paced nervously in front of Jim's door. It had been a couple of hours since the whole event on the Bridge and Jim had yet to be seen or heard from. After Jim had left, Spock had refused to say anything further about what he had saw or experienced, but the horror was raw on the Vulcan's face and McCoy just _knew_ that Jim had forced all his memories of his childhood and Tarsus onto Z.

Leonard was one of the few people in this universe that knew about Jim's past - the whole book. A couple of Starfleet's highest ranks knew of Jim's involvement on Tarsus IV: Jim was one of the Tarsus Nine who had seen Kodos' face. What they didn't know was the details of how Jim was captured in a last attempt to save his kids and tortured for days on end by Kodos himself before Starfleet finally arrived to save him. By the time Jim had recovered, his kids were gone - scattered throughout the universe and hidden from him for "their own safety". What bullshit. But even with Jim's hacking skills, he couldn't bring himself to find them. At the young age of thirteen, he had learned the harsh ways of the world. He knew what it meant to sacrifice, what it meant to suffer. And if he fulfilled his desires to see his kids again, he would be putting them in danger, because no matter how good he was at hacking and covering his tracks, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that his attempts would lead other people straight to the ones he had sworn to protect. So Jim had had to let them go, even if it killed part of whatever was left of his broken soul.

When Leonard had met Jim, they were instantly drawn to one another. As people who were innately familiar with loss, sacrifice, and hardships, it made sense. McCoy had seen and accepted Jim, despite not knowing the details of his turbulent past. He had gone out of his way to mend some of the broken pieces and keep the poor kid alive, and he did it without asking questions. No pity was ever involved. He just did it because well, Jim accepted him and all the shit that followed him first. Jim wasn't one to judge because of things that happened in the past. He lived in the present and he pulled McCoy along for the ride. Despite all their differences and difficulties of trusting others and letting people in, they worked, and for them, that was all that mattered.

Now, McCoy found himself hesitant to barge into his best friend's room like he normally did. He had dealt with Jim's nightmares in the past while they were roommates - he had even dealt with Jim's break down when he heard from Pike that one of his kids had committed suicide. (That was actually when McCoy learned the entire story from Jim). But this...this was something entirely new that McCoy wasn't sure how to handle. How do you comfort someone who had been emotionally and physically abused as a child and then thrown into a world where dog eats dog, only to be abandoned again? How do you even remotely begin to relate to that? It wasn't possible. Only Jim could be strong enough to live through all that and still come out the other end victorious.

Jim didn't believe in no-win scenarios. Perhaps that was what got him through it all. And this time would be no different. Leonard knew that. He really did. But he didn't know if Jim would need him or if he would rather go through all of this alone like he used to.

McCoy let out a frustrated groan. Damn Jim and his masochism. No matter what Jim wanted, he didn't get the option of being alone. He may have been used to it because he never _had_ anyone in the past, but now he had Leonard, Spock, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, Uhura, and the rest of the _Enterprise_. They were a family, and damn it all to hell if McCoy was going to let Jim deal with this on his own.

He inputted his CMO override code and the door opened to reveal Jim's dark quarters. He glanced inside and didn't see Jim on his bed or anywhere else in his room. For a moment, he had thought that Jim had wandered off somewhere quiet, like in the Jefferies tubes or in one of the less used observation decks, but the sound of water running caught his attention.

"Jim?" he called, stepping in.

There was no answer.

Bones peered into the bathroom and saw a huddled figure in the corner of the shower. He rushed forward with his heart in his throat and turned off the water. From the humidity of the air and how cold the water was now, Bones could tell that shower had been on for a long while now. He laid his hands on Jim's shoulders, shaking him slightly to get his friend's attention.

"Jim? Jim, wake up, damn it!"

Jim's head lolled towards McCoy and the doctor instantly took in his pale pallor and the shallow breathing. There was a slight flush to his cheeks. Leonard moved his hands up to hold Jim face, feeling how warm and wet his friend was. A fever was quickly making its way through Jim's system.

"Jim, please, answer me," McCoy pleaded, patting his best friend's cheeks lightly. "Jim!"

Blue eyes flickered open. It took a moment too long for recognition to register. "'lo Bones…" Jim murmured.

Bones almost laughed with relief. "Hey, you with me? How long have you been in this shower?"

"Don't know."

"Come on, let's get you dry and in bed."

Bones started to pull Jim to his feet, but Jim resisted. His bleary blue eyes looked up at Bones. "Why are you helping me, Bones?"

"You and your idiotic sense of worthlessness…" muttered McCoy, "We went over this last time, Jim. It's because you matter to me, moron. That'll never change. Now come on, you're not exactly at lightweight. Don't make me call Spock."

At that, Jim completely froze and McCoy knew that he said the wrong thing. Sighing, he crouched down beside his friend, ignoring the fact that his clothes were getting wet. "I know I usually don't get along with the pointy-eared bastard, but he is sincerely worried about you. Not that he would ever say it. But he's been pretty absentminded, even for a Vulcan."

Jim leaned into Bones, savoring the warmth of his friend. "He knows, Bones. He knows."

"He doesn't know much, from what I'm getting from him," Bones responded, wrapping his arm around Jim's trembling form.

"He tell you?"

"Nope."

"Liar."

"He didn't tell me, Jim, even when I pulled him aside and asked. He said that he only saw flashes, but not enough to gather a whole picture." Bones paused. "He's confused and worried about you. We all are. How much did Z get?"

There was a moment of silence and then a quiet murmur, "All of it."

"All of it? As in from Frank to now?"

A nod.

"Why the hell did you open _that_ can of worms?" Bones scolded, his tone sad and rough. "Do you want to talk about it?"

But Bones knew the answer even before Jim responded.

Jim just pressed his face against Bones' shoulder and shook his head.

Bones sighed. "Alright then. Let's get you out of this shower and into bed. That sound good?"

The blonde didn't give a reply, but there was no fight left in him. Jim let Bones pull him up and help him out of the shower. He was set on the toilet while Bones grabbed a towel and gently tousled Jim's hair to get it dry. Getting Jim out of his wet clothes was a little bit more difficult, but somehow, McCoy managed to get Jim into a clean shirt, boxers, and pants before maneuvering him onto his bed. Tenderly, Bones pulled the covers over Jim and ran his fingers through Jim's short hair.

Jim made a murmuring noise – nothing discernible, but Bones knew what he said all the same.

Bones gave him a sad smile and patted Jim's shoulder reassuringly. "Yeah, kid. I'll stay."

And then the doctor settled down on the bed next to Jim, readying himself for a long, long night.

* * *

When Jim started to whimper in his sleep and shift uncomfortably, Bones snapped awake immediately. Turning around slightly, Bones laid his hand on Jim's shoulder and frowned in concern when he felt the heat of a fever through the shirt.

"Shit…" swore McCoy as he looked around the room for a hypospray, remembering at the last second that he hadn't brought any of his medical supplies with him. At least he had his comm on him and he was seconds from calling Nurse Chapel to bring what he needed to him, but Jim let out another moan, distracting him.

Bones gently started shaking his friend, trying to wake up Jim from the nightmares that he couldn't escape on his own. But he had forgotten that Jim didn't react well when he was feverish. The moment Jim was awake, his entire body jolted in alarm. With the fever fogging his mind, Jim acted purely on instinct.

Before Bones was even aware of what was going on, Jim had flung and slammed him to the floor. In seconds, Bones was lying on his back, winded, with Jim's knee sitting painfully on his sternum and a strong hand wrapped around his neck.

Once McCoy caught his breath again and the pain receded a little, he really took in how Jim looked. Jim was breathing heavily, sweat covering his body. His face was flushed and he was shaking, but what really disturbed Bones was how painfully cold Jim's eyes were. Jim didn't know who McCoy was, and that put Bones in a _very _dangerous situation.

"Make a move, and I _will_ kill you," Jim snarled quietly, venom lacing every word.

"Jim…Jimmy, it's me, Bones," McCoy coughed out.

"I don't give a flying fuck who you are. Where are my kids?"

Confusion filled Bones. "Kids? What kids?"

Wrong thing to say…McCoy felt the pressure around his neck tighten, but the sudden lack of oxygen didn't mean that he couldn't make the connection between the 'kids' that Jim spoke of and Tarsus. For the first time in his life, Bones felt thankful that Jim had forcefully taught him some self-defense moves. In a flash, he broke Jim's grasp on him and raised his knee, using his larger body to flip Jim over onto his back. The moment Jim was down, McCoy jumped back, fumbling with his comm.

"Uhura! Come in, Uhura!" he spoke urgently in comm as he kept some distance between him and Jim who had gotten to his feet.

"_McCoy? What's going on?" _Uhura responded immediately.

"Get me Ensign Kevin Riley, now!" Bones said just as he noticed Jim grabbing something off the shelf. "SHIT!" he shouted and ducked.

McCoy's loud swear and the sounds of glass shattering came through on the comm and alarm rapidly filled Uhura and the rest of the Command crew. Alpha shift was just ending and Uhura had answered McCoy's call at her console. She hadn't really thought about it, but she had automatically patched McCoy through on the speaker and now, sounds of a violent scuffle could be heard on the Bridge.

"McCoy?! Are you alright?!" she exclaimed.

There was a grunt from McCoy. _"Calm down, Jim!"_

They all froze. Jim was attacking his best friend?

Another crash and then a thud.

Everyone held their breath.

Then, _"Uhura, you still there?" _panted Leonard. It seemed that the doctor was able to subdue Jim, at least long enough to contact the Bridge.

"Yes! What's going on, Leonard? Are you alright?"

"_Nothing. Just send Ensign Kevin Riley to Jim's room."_

"Leonard…" Uhura started.

"_No time, Uhura. He's getting up again. Get me Kevin Riley, _now_!"_

And then the message ended.

Uhura tried to call back, but before she could do it, Spock's fingers pressed down on her comm. "I understand your concern, Nyota, but I believe it would be best if we do as Doctor McCoy asked and find Ensign Kevin Riley."

She nodded and quickly called Ensign Riley.

"_Ensign Riley,"_ answered Kevin, his voice muffled with tiredness.

"Ensign Riley, this is Lieutenant Uhura. Doctor McCoy has requested your presence at Captain Kirk's quarters," she said swiftly.

There was a pause and then sounds of clothes rustling. _"Understood. I'll be there in five."_

Silence filled the bridge.

Sulu turned to Uhura. "Anyone know who Riley is?"

"He works in Engineering," said Spock, already passing off his position to the Beta shift.

"Vhat does he hawe to do with the Keptin?" frowned Chekov, also following Spock's example.

"I do not know, but I intend to find out."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Uhura asked, standing. "You saw Kirk earlier. What makes you think that he'd want us to know whatever it is he's hiding?"

"I do not wish to pry into what Jim does not want us to know."

"Then why are you so intent on all this? Is it because of what you saw?"

Spock finally paused at the turbolift, his back to the Command crew. Slowly, he turned back around to stare coldly at Uhura. "Do not misunderstand me, Lieutenant Uhura. While I am curious, I will not betray Jim's trust by forcing his secrets out into the open."

Uhura stood her ground. "I'm just trying to protect him, Spock. You saw him when he left the Bridge. He can't take any more, Spock! You have to give him time to get himself back together!"

Spock inclined his head slightly. "I merely wish to remind Jim that he need not go through this on his own. He is no longer alone."

There was a pause and suddenly, Chekov was already in the turbolift, tapping his foot impatiently. Sulu, Uhura, and Spock all looked at him with confusion.

"Vhat are you all standing there for? Come on. Let's not keep the Keptin vaiting."

Sulu broke into a grin. "That's right. Kirk's family and family take care of each other." And he joined Spock and Chekov.

"Well, the least we can do is make sure that he didn't kill McCoy," Uhura said, walking in as well and pressing the button to Deck 5. "The good doctor has some outstanding bets to pay."

"McCoy owes you?" gaped Sulu. "How did you manage that?"

Uhura just smiled as the turbolift doors closed, but that quickly faded as they made their way down to Jim's floor.

Silence had filled the turbolift as each and every one of them thought about Jim and how well they truly knew their Captain. For all that he was and all that he had shared, Jim was a complete and utter mystery. None of them knew anything beyond his years at Starfleet. They didn't even know if Jim had siblings or not, and yet, Jim had taken the time to get to know them. Jim would occasionally ask Uhura how her grandmother was; he would give Sulu some ethnic treats to send to his parents and talk Chekov through his homesickness. He had drawn a wonderful picture of Spock's mother for him and would keep up with all the developments of New Vulcan.

For all intents and purposes, Jim was their brother – someone that they could always count and rely on, someone who was always there for them. And until now, they hadn't realized that it was so one-sided. They didn't know anything about Jim. Even if he hadn't outright shared his past, they had never thought to ask.

As the turbolift opened once again, they found themselves wondering whether or not they had the right to even call themselves Jim's friends.

* * *

Bones stepped back, hanging up on Uhura as he watched his best friend stagger to his feet. Jim's eyes were dull and unfocused, but unlike seconds before, there was no sign of anger or cold detachment. Instead, confusion and anguish filled those baby blues.

"Jim?" Bones tried, taking a tentative step.

Jim's looked at Bones' voice and frowned. "Bones? Wha…what's going on?"

"Doesn't matter. You back with me now?"

Jim shook his head, raising his hand to clutch at his head. He stumbled backwards, his back leaning against the wall for support. Instantly, Bones was by his side, helping him slide down to the ground. Leonard then joined Jim on the floor, their shoulders touching.

"S-shit…my head hurts like fuck…" Jim hissed.

"You got a fever, Jim. A really high one. Do you know where you are?"

It took a moment. "The _Enterprise_…right?"

There was hesitation and doubt in his voice. And then his head snapped up and looked wildly around the dark room.

"Wait…where're my kids, Bones? Did they fucking take my kids?" gasped Jim, grabbing Bones' sleeve tightly in fear.

If it was anyone else, he or she would have worried at how incoherent Jim was, but Bones knew the drill like the back of his hand. It wasn't the first time that Jim was confused about his timeline.

He shushed Jim quietly. "No, they didn't. Your kids are safe."

"Where are they?"

"They're resting, but Kevin said that he's stopping by soon."

"Kev? Kev is here?"

Bones smiled, hiding his worries away. "Yeah, he followed you to this damn ship."

A pause. "Like you did…"

Bones nodded. "Can't leave you alone, can I?"

Jim frowned, remembering. "You threw up on me."

McCoy sighed. "You'll never let that go, will you?"

There was a slight change in Jim's posture as let his head fall against Bones' shoulder. "Fuck…"

"You with me now, Jim?"

"My head keeps fucking with me," Jim answered truthfully, his voice weak.

"Can you use those techniques that those Betazoids showed you to build up more shields?"

Jim wordlessly shook his head.

"You can't differentiate the past and the present with that fever, can you?" Bones inferred. Jim couldn't replace his shields properly without being able to know what were memories and what wasn't. There was no way to know what was meant to be locked away until his chaotic mind settled down.

Bones reached around Jim's shaking shoulders and pulled him closer. He raised his hand to touch Jim's forehead, feeling the intense heat radiating off his friend. "We have to get this fever down, Jimmy, before we can do anything to get your head all sorted out."

Jim's grip grew tighter on Bones' shirt. "Don't go…"

"I'm won't. I promise."

There was a moment of silence and then Jim's breathing hitched.

"Where're my kids? Did they fucking take my kids?" Jim mumbled again.

Bones just shushed Jim, holding his friend tighter. "No, they didn't. Your kids are safe, Jim."

"Kodos isn't dead. He isn't dead. I have to warn them."

"Kevin will be here soon. You can tell him."

McCoy had to thank the stars that Riley had the best timing ever. The doors to Jim's room opened and Kevin stepped in. The young man only had to take one look at Jim's huddled form next to McCoy to realize what Jim needed exactly.

Kevin rushed over and kneeled in front of Jim, grasping Jim's trembling wrist. "Hey, J.T.," he said softly. "It's me, Kev."

Jim turned his bleary eyes to look at Kevin. "Kev…you made it…"

"Yeah, we all did, thanks to you, J.T."

"Kodos…Kodos isn't dead."

"I know. I already told the others. We'll get him, I promise. Now, go to sleep. It's time for you to rest and let us take care of you, okay, J.T.?"

"You'll still be here?"

"Promise. Me and good ol' Bones here will be right here."

"Bones?"

Bones nudged Jim's shoulder. "Right here, Jimmy."

Jim let out a sigh and leaned his head against Bones' shoulder. "Good." And his eyes closed.

McCoy and Kevin both waited until Jim's breathing had evened out before they even dared to speak.

"What brought this on?" asked Kevin quietly. "I haven't seen him this bad since he learned that Kodos was still alive."

"Some fucking Betazoid snuck on board. Jim here figured out that the bastard leeched off negative memories and emotions, so he, being the self-sacrificing moron he is, gave up everything he had." Despite how angry his words were, Bones' tone was soft and worried. "I think the fever is a residual effect from the psychic attack and it's making him confused."

"What can I do?"

"We need to get the fever down, but I don't know how the medications will react after all this. Let's get him to bed first."

Kevin nodded and helped maneuver Jim so that Bones could carry his friend to the bed. Silently, he tucked Jim in while Kevin brought back a cold, wet rag to place on Jim's forehead.

A knock on the door distracted the two and McCoy went to answer it.

When he opened the door, he saw Spock, Nyota, Chekov, and Sulu standing before him, their eyes questioning.

Tiredly, McCoy ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. "Look, guys, I know you want an explanation, but now is not a good time."

"We merely wish to inquire on Jim's health," Spock said.

"Physically, he's fine."

"And mentally?"

"There's room for improvement," came the curt response.

"Can you just tell us if he'll be okay?" asked Uhura. "We're worried about him."

"Aren't we all?" muttered McCoy. "I don't know. I honestly don't. That moron hasn't always had the easiest life and he just had to relive it all, piece by piece. And because our idiot is a genius with a near eidetic memory, let's just say that the details can be quite damaging."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sulu questioned.

McCoy paused. "You aren't here to find out what it was exactly that broke that Betazoid bastard, are you?" There was a slight tone of disbelief in his words, telling them that he slightly was surprised that they did not come to satisfy their burning curiosity.

"It is not our place to pry," replied Chekov, "The Keptin is my good friend and I care about him. If he does not vant to share his past, then ve vill not ask."

"Doctor McCoy!" came Kevin's shout from within the room.

Immediately, Leonard swung around to see Jim thrashing in his bed and Kevin hovering worriedly over him, knowing full well that he couldn't touch his friend. The anguished expression on Jim's face broke Bones' heart.

"Damn it, Jim!" McCoy hissed, his mind rapidly turning to figure out what he could do to save Jim. He turned back to Spock. "Jim's going to hate me for asking you to do this, Spock, but you need to do that voodoo mind-melding shit with him. At this rate, his memories are going to tear him apart before he even gets the chance to recover."

Spock hesitated. "Doctor McCoy, you do realize what you are asking, from the both of us?"

McCoy closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I know." But he moved aside to let Spock enter the room. "But even if he never forgives me, I can't let him suffer like this. I just can't."

"Very well. But do not forget that this is Jim we are considering, Doctor McCoy. There is no one else that can replace you in his life, just as there is no one to replace him in your life. He will understand. However, in the unlikely chance that he does not forgive you as you say, you and I can enjoy isolation together."

McCoy let out a small, mirthless chuckle. "If he throws me under the bus, you'll be right there with me, huh? Sarcasm does not become you, Spock."

"So I have heard."

"Just…help him, please?"

"I will." He started to walk in, but not before whispering to McCoy, "He is irreplaceable to me as well."

Spock nodded at Kevin who made room for Spock to stand by Jim's side. Spock closed his eyes as he reached forward towards Jim's face. With a brief second of hesitation, Spock pressed on Jim's psi-points.

The last coherent thought he had as himself before he was sucked into the dark abyss that was Jim's mind was, _"Please do not despise me for this, my friend_…_"_

* * *

_When Spock opened his eyes, he was no longer in Jim's quarters. Instead, he found himself all alone in vast field of rolling tall grass. Bewildered, Spock surveyed his surroundings and spotted a large tree in the center of everything. High above in the branches, lying so ever casually, was Jim._

_Quietly, Spock made his way to Jim and stood below the tree as he asked, "Permission to come up, Jim?"_

_Jim had his eyes closed as he laid on his back, resting his head on his arms. He sighed at the sound of Spock's voice. "You aren't supposed to be here, Spock."_

"_While that is true, that does not mean that I should not be here."_

_Jim sat up, his body language angry now. "I can't believe Bones let you do this."_

"_Do not blame Doctor McCoy. The fault is mine. I had every ability to refuse his request, but we are both worried about you. You were far too incoherent to recover on your own terms."_

"_I figured as much. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."_

"_You are aware?"_

"_Of course I'm aware of my own chaotic mind, Spock. I'm a genius, remember?"_

"_Then how is it that this place is so peaceful?"_

"_You like it? It reminds me of the time I was in Italy. It was the first place I went to after I came back to this planet and left Iowa. I didn't have anywhere to go, anyone to care about me, but I found peace there. Even now, whenever I find myself wavering, I like to come here." He closed his eyes. "But I can tell that beyond here, everything is all jumbled up and my memories are clashing. Why is it that I can't make heads and tails of it all?"_

"_It seems that you have a high fever."_

"_Ah, no wonder."_

_As silence fell, Spock turned to see the meadow around them shrink, covered by a dark cloud. "Jim…"_

"_I know. I'm aware. We don't have long."_

"_Jim…"_

"_Spock, are you prepared?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

_Jim looked down at him, his sad, blue eyes drowning Spock. "You saw parts of my memories. You should know that there aren't many pleasant things that lurk there. I've lived through hell, Spock, but I have already seen it all. You, on the other hand, don't really know what to expect. So I ask again, are _you _prepared?"_

_Spock squared his shoulders. "Regardless of whether or not I am prepared, I am here to ensure that you will not go through this alone, Jim."_

"_You may come to regret that statement, Spock."_

"_I have and never will regret anything that concerns our friendship, Jim."_

_Jim just smiled at him sadly. "If you can say that after what you see, then maybe I'll believe you."_

_The black clouds were touching the edges of the tree roots now and were slowly creeping up on Spock and Jim. Just as the blackness took over them, Spock heard one last remark from Jim._

"_Please don't hate me for this, Spock…"_

_How peculiar that their last thoughts were almost exactly the same._

* * *

McCoy paced nervously at the foot of Jim's bed. Every so often, he would glance at Jim's prone body with Spock standing like a statue beside him. Neither of them made any movements.

"Doctor McCoy, could you please sit down?" asked Kevin, who was sitting down on the floor on the other side of Jim's bed.

"Yes, please sit down," sighed Sulu who also was sitting on the ground, but against the wall facing Jim and Spock. Beside him sat Chekov and Uhura.

"I'll do whatever I damn well please."

"We're all worried, Leonard, but you're driving us crazy," said Uhura.

McCoy paused, facing away from all of them. His shoulders fell, as if he had surrendered. "Maybe I shouldn't even be here…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I willingly let Spock know Jim's secrets – the secrets that he guards with his life. He's never going to forgive me for it."

"He'll understand, Leonard. You said it yourself, if it wasn't for the fever or the psychic attack, he could have handled it. Spock _had _to step in."

McCoy let out a shaky exhale. "Let's just hope Jim thinks the same way..."

* * *

_Spock blinked, momentarily puzzled at the sudden change in scenery. He was standing within a small Terran living room. There was a couch with an older man sitting upon it. He was middle-aged and scruffy. He wore a dirty white wife-beater and was drunkenly yelling at the television screen._

_A worn out looking woman with blond hair wandered in. She was wearing the blue Starfleet uniform of a Science officer and tugging along a suitcase. Spock recognized her as Winona Kirk._

_She fussed with her clothes for a second before talking to the man on the couch. _"Frank, I'm going to be leaving soon. Take care of Sam for me?"

"Yeah, yeah."

_Sam? Not James? Spock was confused._

"_Sam is my older brother," came Jim's voice from beside him._

_It took almost all of Spock's control to not flinch. He turned to glance at the Jim he knew, standing beside him. When had that happened?_

_Jim almost laughed at the startled expression on Spock's face. "I've been here the entire time, Spock. And no, I can't read your mind. You're a lot more expressive than you think."_

"Sam, I'm leaving now!"_ shouted Winona._

_Two teenagers came running down the stairs. One was clearly older by a couple of years and had similar features as Jim, but had brown eyes instead of the haunting, dreamy blue irises that his younger brother had._

"Mom, do you have to go?" _whined Sam._

"You know I do. Be good for Frank, will you?" _Winona reached out a caressed Sam's cheek while smiling softly. She never once glanced at James who cowered behind his older brother. James neither spoke nor made any movement towards his mother; Winona in return, seemed to completely disregard James' existence._

"_Frank was my step-father," Jim explained. "I reminded Winona too much of my father and she could never bear to look at me. Until I was thirteen, I did not exist."_

_Winona walked out the door without a backwards glance._

_Sam immediately disappeared back up the stairs, but not before he shot Frank a dirty look._

_James just stood there, looking so small, so sad until Sam came down with a duffle bag._

"Sam, where are you going?" _asked James, sounded so scared._

"I'm leaving, James. I can't stick around with _him_ here, but I can't take you with me. I'm sorry, James. I really am."

"Please don't leave me, Sam. Please!"

"I'm sorry, James. Goodbye."

_And Sam walked out of Jim's life as well._

_The sound of the door shutting roused Frank and he glanced up to see James standing there. _

"What the fuck are you still doing there, you fucking brat?" _Frank yelled. The man threw his now empty bottle at James' head. James ducked at the last second and the glass shattered around him._

"How dare you dodge? What have I said about that, you damn brat?!" _Frank roared and stood._

_In an angry, drunken stupor, Frank raised his fists above James and hit him over and over again, until even Spock lost count. Blood splattered from broken skin; cracks could be heard as bones snapped. But through it all, James never made a sound. _

_Spock could feel Jim flinching with each hit, but he too, made no sound as he felt the pain of his past self all over again._

_One sharply placed fist to Frank's throat, and suddenly, the older man keeled over, unconscious. _

_James pushed Frank aside, and shakily got to his feet._

_Spock reached forward, meaning to help the younger James, but Jim stopped him._

"_This is just a memory, Spock. You can't do anything," Jim said quietly. "But I appreciate the thought."_

"_Jim, this is…"_

"_Yeah, this was my childhood. Frank was a bastard that liked to beat children and Winona did nothing to stop it, even though she knew about it. I was about twelve when this happened. Immediately, I drove my father's Corvette off a cliff. Child's Protective Services got wind of my 'rebelliousness' and sent me to live with Winona's sister off-planet."_

_Jim clapped his hands and the scene before them became a wisp of smoke. "Spock, will you do me the honors?"_

"_For what, may I ask?"_

_An iron wooden box suddenly appeared before Spock and he instantly understood. Without hesitation, he opened it and watched as Jim guided the wisp of smoke into it._

_He slammed the lid shut, and Jim quickly shoved a lock into place, keeping that memory locked away._

_Jim smiled at Spock. "That's one down."_

_Spock almost frowned at how easy it all was._

"_Don't be fooled, Spock. It may have seemed easy, but that's because this memory is the easiest for me to deal with. I'm almost twenty-six; I've had many years to come to terms with my childhood." Jim looked at the box, "And it was a lot easier to handle with you around."_

"_I do not understand. In Vulcan, children are considered precious treasures. I do not understand how Frank could raise a hand against someone as innocent as…"_

_Jim raised a hand to stop Spock. "I haven't been innocent in a very long time, Spock. But on Earth and among humans, there just are some people who have black hearts. Sometimes, there just aren't any explanations to how we act. We humans are, as you say, illogical."_

_Jim watched Spock try to process the information. A heartbeat later, he spoke again. "Can we move on? I don't know about you, but I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible. And I'm pretty sure Bones is going to throw a conniption if we don't handle this soon."_

"_What's next?"_

"_You're not going to like it."_

"_As you have said before."_

_Jim sighed and looked upwards. "You know how I said that I was sent off-planet?"_

"_Yes."_

"_The planet I was sent to was Tarsus IV."_

_Spock let out a gasp as the black scenery around them wavered, like a mirage in the dessert._

_And before he had any chance to gather himself, Spock found himself spinning farther and farther into the black abyss._

* * *

_Spock opened his eyes once again to see a barren wasteland before him. It seemed that at one point, the land in front of him was once a fertile farmland, but now it had become barren, covered with blood. _

_The Vulcan took a step back as piles of bodies started to appear before him, but he bumped into a hard frozen body._

_He turned to see Jim standing behind him. His Captain was trembling, his arms wrapped around his chest, hugging himself. Cold sweat appeared on his brow._

"_Jim?" asked Spock._

"_Spock…I-I don't think I can do this…" whispered Jim._

_The bodies around them increased in number; their terrified expressions frozen in death. It almost surprised Spock at how detailed their faces were or how twisted their limbs were, but this was Jim he was talking about, and Spock shuddered at the thought of how every detail was probably etched from Jim's photographic memory. There was no exaggeration nor lie in each of these bodies._

"_Jim, do not fear. This is merely a memory."_

"_Merely a memory…you're fucking with me. Do you not see the carnage around you? Courtesy of one fucking Kodos the Executioner."_

"_But you did not cause their deaths. You are not at fault for this, Jim."_

_Jim shook his head. "No, but I am no better."_

_The bodies faded away, disintegrating into the ground, replace by much smaller ones._

_Sixteen emancipated children laid around them; their tear streak stains distinct on their pale, yet dirty faces. Sorrow, terror, and hunger filled their expressions; their dull eyes staring blankly into the cloudy sky._

"_Jim, who are they?" Spock asked gently._

_Jim curled into himself, if it was even possible. He sank to the ground, trying to avoid looking at the children around him. "They are my kids…the ones that I failed."_

_As loathe as Spock was to question Jim, he knew he had to. Otherwise, Jim would be forever stuck here. "What do you mean by failed?"_

"_I…I was supposed to protect them. I did as much as could. I stole…"_

A thin thirteen-year-old J.T. scampered in the shadows, sneaking into homes and emerging with small bags of food. He didn't care who he was stealing from, even if the people within those homes needed to food and water that he gathered.

"_I killed…"_

J.T. and a young Kevin Riley had been corned by Kodos' soldiers. J.T. snarled at them and pulled out a small dagger as he stepped in front of Kevin. There was no hesitation in J.T.'s lithe and lethal movements. He sprang forward, leaping as his dagger slit the closest soldier's throat. Blood splattered all over J.T.'s young body, but he paid it no attention. The moment he landed, he swung around, stabbing another soldier in the stomach. The last of them had tried to attack Kevin, who huddled by the wall of a house. In that instant, J.T. rushed towards them, taking a sharp blow to his upper arm that was meant for Kevin, and exchanged it with a flick of his wrist. His dagger flew through the air and pierced through the last soldier's forehead.

J.T.'s cold, detached expression never changed during the entire encounter. Even when J.T. jerked out the knife from the soldier's head and wiped off the blood on his torn clothing, he barely spared the soldier a glance. It was a far cry than what Spock had seen in his Jim.

"_I had to make hard choices…"_

There was a young couple, crying to J.T. to spare them some food, some water. Anything. J.T. could easily see that without his help, the two would die within a couple of days, if not sooner. But he turned his back on them and didn't back even look over his shoulder. He had his kids he had to worry about.

And then there was the time where he had been separated from two of his kids, Anna and Jacob. He wasn't sure what happened, but soldiers discovered them and they had to make a quick getaway, but Anna and Jacob were too young – barely four-years-old – and could not keep up. J.T. had to close his eyes and bite his lower lip as he ushered the rest of his kids away, leaving behind the two when they fell and could not get back up. He had no choice. He had no choice…but it didn't hurt any less.

"_And in the end, I still failed them."_

"_But some survived, did they not? Because of you, Kevin Riley was able to become an Ensign on board of Starfleet's flagship."_

"_Eight, besides me. Eight out of my original twenty-four. Sixteen of my kids died, Spock. Sixteen…all because I wasn't good enough."_

"_Jim, you did what you had to do to survive. For your kids to survive. Even if some perished, it was not because you did not do what you could; it was because Kodos forced you into that life-or-death situations. You are not to blame."_

_Jim looked up at Spock, tears falling down his cheeks. "You've seen all that I've done, Spock. Even you cannot possibly condone what I have done. And yet, after everything, sixteen of my kids still died and even more died by my own hands."_

_Spock knelt down in front of Jim, purposely hiding Jim's view of the bodies around them. "Jim, you are not James, that terrified child, anymore. You are no longer J.T., the teenager that was forced to live like a dog under Kodos' terrifying reign. You are Captain James T. Kirk, the one who saved worlds and is a universal hero. You are Jim, the one who lived through everything and survived to become who you are today. You are Jim – the extraordinary man who is the strongest being I have ever met. Please, do not forget that, Jim."_

_Spock lightly reached out, grasping Jim's wet cheeks. "Please, Jim. Do not forget yourself. Do not forget your Bones, Lieutenant Sulu, Lieutenant Chekov, and Nyota. Do not forget the _Enterprise_ or her crew. We all care for you, Jim. If you are not there with us, who else is there to keep us safe? Who else is there to give meaning to our lives? Jim, we need you. Please. Do not let Kodos win."_

_Under Spock's hands, Jim shook, trying desperately to block out the screams of the thousands of people around him, trying to forget the faces of the people he killed and the kids that he failed, but he couldn't._

"_No, Jim. You are not to forget. You are to move on. Only then, can you truly be free."_

"_Spock…help me. Please…I can't…"_

_Spock conjured a steel treasure box with his mind and set it beside Jim. "I can only do this much for you, Jim. The rest is up to you, but I will be here for you, every step of the way."_

"_Spock."_

"_Jim, you are strong – far stronger than you give yourself credit for."_

"_No, I'm not. I can't. I don't deserve to move on…"_

"_Don't think of it like that. Do it for the people who care for you. Think of 'Bones', Ensign Kevin Riley, Lieutenant Chekov and Sulu, and Nyota."_

_The images of the mentioned people appeared around them, creating a shield between them and the horror that was Tarsus._

_Jim sucked in a deep breath and Spock could sense his resolve returning._

"_Do it now, Jim," urged Spock._

_Jim nodded and shook his head briefly. The scene around them went up into smoke, churned above their heads. Gritting his teeth, Jim forced the memory into the chest and Spock firmly forced it closed. _

"_The lock, Jim. The lock!"_

_Wordlessly, Jim forced the lock onto the chest. With one second of hesitation, Jim clamped the lock shut._

_The scene swirled wildly and Jim let out a sigh of relief. His bright blue eyes landed on Spock and a small smile ghosted his face._

"_Are you alright, Jim?"_

_Jim just shook his head at Spock's question._

_Understanding, Spock amended his words. "_Will_ you be alright, Jim?"_

"_Perhaps not today, but perhaps tomorrow. Someday, I will be able to do this alone once again."_

_Spock reached out as he felt himself being pushed out of Jim's recovering consciousness, his long fingers encircling Jim's wrist. "No, Jim. You will never be alone again. Not while I am alive and by your side."_

_Jim cracked a genuine smile. "See you on the other side, Spock."_

_And then Spock was gone._

* * *

Spock snapped back with a small gasp, his head throbbing. Instantly, he was surrounded by Nyota, Chekov, and Sulu. Questions barraged him. Was Jim alright? Was he alright? What had happened? What was going to happen? Spock, despite his intelligence, could barely make any sense of what they were saying.

"Everyone, give the hobgoblin some room!" barked McCoy.

His shout was effective and everyone took a couple of steps back, ducking their heads like scolded children.

McCoy turned to Spock who was still steadying himself. "You alright?"

Spock nodded.

"Jim?"

"Alive."

But it wasn't Spock who answered. It was Jim himself, who was pushing himself up into a seated position, wincing at the sharp pain in his head.

Again, everyone tried to push forward, but Jim raised a hand and stopped them.

"Before you say anything, yes, I'm aware of what happened. Yes, I'm fine and yes, my shields are in place. Sorry for worrying you."

Silence fell and they all gave McCoy a side glance. McCoy was fidgeting by the door, trying not to look at Jim. Jim followed their gazes and sighed.

"Come here, you big lug. I know you want to check me over, you damn overprotective hen."

McCoy looked hesitant.

Jim rolled his eyes, "Come on, Bones. Don't make me get up and go over there."

At the sound of his nickname, Bones' posture instantly relaxed in relief and stepped forward, muttering under his breath. Jim quirked a smile at Bones returning to his usual state and even moved into position to make it easier for Bones to take his vitals, but Bones didn't bother. Instead, Bones just wrapped Jim into a tight hug.

"I'm just glad you're alright, Jim."

Jim smiled warmly. "Thanks, Bones. Sorry for scaring you."

Once they broke apart, Jim grinned at the rest of his Command crew. "Alright, I'm sure you have questions for me. Ask away."

"Are you sure that's wise, Jim?" asked Bones.

Jim nodded. "Thanks to Spock."

"Are you really alright, Keptin?" Chekov questioned first.

"I'm as good as anyone can be. Tomorrow will be better and the day after will be even better. For now, I'm fine."

Sulu was next. "Aren't you supposed to be psi-null? How did you manage to fight off Z?"

"I'm a genius, remember? I once visited a Betazoid colony and learned a few tricks. Even though I'm psi-null, I was able to figure out how to create mental shields and block of mental attacks. I had to train for it though."

Uhura crossed her arms. "You're still an idiot, Kirk. What did you think you would accomplish by running off like that? I've never seen McCoy so worried, and that's even with you getting blown up and poisoned."

Jim shrugged. "It was my problem. I thought I could deal with it on my own."

"You always take things upon yourself like you're alone. That needs to stop. Don't bite off more than you can chew, Kirk. We're here to help. We're family, aren't we?"

Jim smiled, "Yeah, we are." Then he frowned. "How come none of you are asking about my past? Aren't you curious?"

"We're _very _curious," said Sulu. "But everyone has the right to their own secrets. If you don't want to share, we won't ask."

"Thanks…that means a lot to me." He let out an exhale. "One day, I'll tell you about it all. Just…not today…."

"Of course. As long as we're all good," Sulu replied.

Jim just nodded. "Yep, we're all good."

McCoy rolled his eyes at everyone grinning at each other.

"Yeah, we're all good, you ingenious idiot."

"Love you too, Bones."

* * *

So, how was it? I know that Jim's reaction coming out of his memories may seem a little bit...mild. But Jim would be the kind of person that hid how broken he was, especially from the people he cared about. And, I really didn't want to go into a whole recovery thing with Jim, because in my eyes, I don't really think that Jim could recover in a single chapter. So just assume that he's still not completely okay (or do if that makes you enjoy the chapter more), and that everyone helps him out after the chapter ends.

Anyway, I hope I did this whole Tarsus thing justice. I tried to do research and read other people's works to get a better picture, but without watching the original series, I may have gotten a more biased feeling that only I could understand. Sorry if I falsified things or took too many liberties with it. Let me know and I'll fix it.

For the next chapter, I haven't quite decided yet. Due to popular requests, I will include an almost drowning with either Bones or Spock resuscitating Jim. Whoever does it is up to you guys. As well as anything else. :)

As usual, please review! Always makes my day!

~ Kanae Yuna


	4. Anything That Will Go Wrong, Will

I'm absolutely blown away by all the reviews, favorites, and follows I've gotten for this story. Thank you all so much for being so supportive of my story! Honest to god, if I ever feel upset about writer's block or my confidence in my writing skills waned, your reviews really saved me.

I want to apologize for the late update. I hit a huge writer's block for the longest time (because of the heavy school load) and then I was out of the country with no access to electronics, so that happened. Sorry.

A shout out to LadyTeldra for giving me the idea of a giant spider attack. As for the rest of you who requested a resuscitation fic, here you go! (Who does the resuscitation is a secret, for now, at least.)

I hope everything meets all your expectations. I'm a little nervous again, just because I struggled with this chapter too. I feel like my writing has changed because I stopped writing fics for a while and stuck to writing analytical, scientific papers. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy this too.

As usual, please review and if you have any requests, let me know. I'm thinking of some physical genius (like combat/fighting skills on Jim's part) or some linguistic skill. Haven't really decided yet, but if you have any ideas, let me know. :)

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any _Star Trek _franchise.

No spoilers for _Into Darkness_.

* * *

**IV**

**Anything That Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong**

No one from the _Enterprise_ could bring themselves to question why things always went sideways anymore. It seemed that everything that was linked to a certain Jim Kirk tended to be filled with suspense, drama, and everything you would ever see out of an action movie. Kirk's illogical effect on the universe became synonymous with Murphy 's Law.

But despite all that, the crew of _Enterprise_ didn't mind following Jim into what was sure to be dangerous, because they knew that their brash leader would always find some way out. Their faith in him was not blind - every single member on the crew was wholeheartedly loyal to Jim. They never found themselves afraid when situations went straight to hell. But once the danger had passed, terror reigned in their hearts. Because more often than not, Jim would, at the very last second, pull one final desperate act to save someone else, regardless if he survived it or not. As long as he protected his crew, that was all that mattered, Murphy's Law be damned.

And nothing scared the _Enterprise's_ crew more than that.

* * *

"Doctor McCoy," Spock's voice said, with a hint of exasperation, "I assure you that there are only small life forms upon this planet - none of which will, as you say, 'chomp you up'."

"You said that about Delta Vega and I _still _had to treat Jim for those scratches he got," Leonard snapped back.

Jim just rolled his eyes at the reoccurring argument his two friends were having and kept on moving through the dense brushes of the jungle. They had been ordered to explore an unknown planet near the edges of the Neutral zone. Paranoid as always, the crew of the _Enterprise _had scanned the small planet within an inch of its life before agreeing to let their Captain beam down with Spock, Bones, and Sulu for a brief initial exploratory excursion. So far, nothing abnormal had come up - the place resembled the environment of Central America back on Earth. The vast majority of the land was jungle with a few low mountain ranges that were littered with massive caves. On their detectors, the mountains almost looked like Swiss cheese and Jim was itching to go caving, which was probably why they sent down Spock _and _Bones down with him. Both of them were total spoilsports.

He turned to Sulu and saw sweat drip down the collar of his neck. "Jungle too hot for your San Franciscan tendencies, Sulu?" Jim smirked, slowing down slightly from where he was leading their group up a steep climb.

"How the hell can you jump around like that and _still _not be sweating?" Sulu gasped out. "Spock, I can understand, and McCoy's from Georgia. You're from Iowa! It snows there!"

"I didn't stay in Iowa my whole life, remember? I've always liked this kind of weather."

"Hot and humid?"

"Sunny and warm," Jim easily returned with a smile. "It reminds me of Belize on Earth. I have lots of fond memories caving there."

"I ain't climbing a damn mountain, Jim," Bones called out as he trudged on forward.

"You won't be."

"I'm not caving either. And neither are you, you accident-prone idiot."

"I must agree with Doctor McCoy on that point," Spock said.

Jim pouted, his bright blue eyes contrasting brightly against the beautiful green of the leaves in the rainforest. "You guys suck out all the fun in life."

"Captain, you realize that you've been stuck in MedBay at least once every single time you've beamed off board? Pardon the crew for caring about your well being," sniffed Sulu, as if he was personally offended.

"It can't be _every _time..." Jim started.

"Don't even start, Jim," grouched McCoy. "Now, where the hell are we going?"

"Up this mountain so we can get a better view of the terrain."

"Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a mountain climber!"

"Come on, Bones, it'll be fun!" grinned Jim as he moved forward, flanked closely by Spock and Sulu.

McCoy internally groaned and tried to shove down the uneasy feeling that was rising in his gut.

"Famous last words..." he muttered and shouldered his pack better before he followed his best friend further into the rainforest.

Somehow, he knew he was going to eat those words later.

* * *

Jim sighed for the fourth time as he watched Sulu and Spock analyze some green-purple plant near the back of a cavern. The two had spotted some unusual fauna and dragged Jim and Bones inside to investigate. While Jim was usually more than happy to let his friends faun over science (he secretly was a nerd too), this time, he was more interested in exploring the vast caves. After being cooped up on the ship for months on end, Jim was feeling antsy to run outside, to jump and feel the wind on his face.

Spock and Sulu wandered further back into the cavern. Jim craned his head, trying to see if he could ascertain the end of the rocky structure. It seemed to go deep into the side of the mountain; the opening chamber was large and clean. Unusually clean. As in, no insects or other critters scurrying around. Yet, there were signs of habitation: scrapings along the side of the walls and marks of a single, large animal among the dirt ground. Jim had never seen tracks such as those before.

Instincts kicked in. "Guys," Jim called out. "Don't go too far in. Something lives in here."

Spock raised his head and gave a short nod of acknowledgement before going back to his studies.

Frowning at Jim's words, Bones wandered forward to stand beside his friend. "What are you talking about, Jim?" he asked.

Jim shrugged, no answers available yet. But he sauntered forward, crouching down by one of the tracks. He reached down, touching the edges of it. It was a crater, like an inverted cone into the dirt. Overall, it was over six inches in diameter and four inches deep. Whatever this was, it was huge. And heavy. With lots of legs.

Suddenly, his overly sharp senses started tingling. All sounds of the rainforest behind him that was once so rowdy and loud, had abruptly subdued, leaving an almost absolute silence behind. Based on everything Jim had ever learned in his life, that could only mean one thing: a predator approaching.

"Shit!" he swore, leaping to his feet and turning in the same movement. He saw Bones flinch at his sudden movement at the same time he noticed a giant, towering black spider looming behind his best friend. His heart stopped.

Confused by Jim's actions, Leonard took a step back with a questioning gaze. As he did, Leonard watched all the color drain from Jim's face; his bright blues eyes filled with alarm.

"Bones!" Jim screamed, reaching out, but too late.

The spider struck out with its stinger, plunging it into the back of McCoy's neck. It took only a second and McCoy's eyes rolled up into his head. In an instant, he collapsed onto the ground in a heap. The next, Jim was already rushing forward to check on his friend, his phaser out and shooting at the offending creature.

Alerted by Jim's yell, Spock and Sulu came to their defense, bringing out their phasers. After a few shots, the spider went angrily lumbering after the two, but not before striking out one leg. It struck Jim directly in the chest, sweeping him completely off his feet and throwing him against the stone wall.

There was a loud crunch as Jim collided with the rocks and landed heavily onto the ground.

Immediately, fire screamed through his whole body. His vision wavered as a sharp pain stabbed through his skull. A groan may have escaped him at this point. He wasn't sure. Everything was swirling around him, fading into black around the corners.

Weakly, he struggled to pick himself up - to get to Bones, to help Spock and Sulu - but his body just couldn't take the damage. His vision blurred and faded.

The last thing he saw was Bones lying barely ten feet away from him, his hand outstretched, as if reaching out to him.

And there wasn't a damn thing Jim could do about it.

Fuck.

* * *

Consciousness came to Jim slowly. Every second was filled with some sort of throbbing. He first became aware of the aching of his chest, then the side-splitting pain of his head. Concussion and possibly broken ribs? Check. Any idea where he was? None.

Shit. That never boded well for him.

Noises flittered through the haze of pain and he clung to it, using them to pull him upwards. He could recognize Spock and Sulu's voices. Both seemed to be arguing about something calmly (probably due to Spock's influence). Inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief. They had escaped unharmed then, which meant they would have gotten to Bones. Yet, something was off.

As if that thought set it off, Jim's entire world was flipped in a nauseating manner. Then his heart sank. They weren't out of danger yet. Otherwise, why the _hell _would he be tied up upside down?!

"Captain?" came Spock's voice. "Are you conscious now?"

Jim actually worked to shove his nausea down and forced his pains aside before he opened his eyes in response to Spock.

"Ugh. I hate waking up to the feeling of blood rushing to my head," groaned Jim.

From his position, Jim could easily see Spock wrapped up in a hardened cocoon of white, slender silk nearby him. The Vulcan was also tied upside down; the cocoon enveloping him so much that Jim could only see Spock from the chin up. He turned his head to his right and saw Sulu and Bones not too far from Spock and him. All were as wrapped up as Spock and he had no doubt that he was in a similar situation.

"You sound like you have had this experience before," teased Sulu. "Kinky."

Jim rolled his eyes, biting down the rising bile. "Can't say I've ever been wrapped up in a cocoon of spider-web before. This is new, even for me."

McCoy let out an unhappy grunt as he slowly came awake, joining in the fray.

"Hey, Bones!" Jim said cheerfully. "How nice of you to join us!"

"What the fuck?" McCoy grated out. "If this is you playing a prank on me, Jim, I swear to God I will hypo you into oblivion."

"That doesn't seem very nice, Bones. Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"Damn it, Jim! At least tell me you have a plan to get out of this mess!" A pause. "How the hell did this happen anyway? What did you do, Jim?!"

"Hey! For once, it's not my fault! Spock here decided to not let us know that this planet is inhabited by giant tarantulas..."

"I did inform you of the creatures that reside on this planet, Captain," interrupted Spock, sounding a little miffed.

"Yeah, but you failed to mention how freaking huge the damn things were. And Sulu over there was the one who wanted to come into its lair in the first place. You didn't help much either, Bones, being the first one taken out."

"Fine fine, it's not your fault. I'm sorry for automatically assuming that you had a hand in this. Are you happy now, Jim?" huffed Bones.

"Yep."

"Now will you figure out how to get us out of this?"

"Preferably before the spider comes back," Sulu piped in.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it. Don't get your panties in a bunch," responded Jim, already starting to wiggle around, testing how tight the cocoon was.

"Captain, may I ask what you are planning?" asked Spock.

"Hmm...just trying to..." Jim let out a pained grunt as his head hit the edge of his hardened cocoon.

"Jim?!" barked Bones.

"I'm fine," Jim quickly called out and grinned at Spock. "Don't worry, buddy. I'll be over in a jiffy to free you."

Jim began to move again, though Bones and Sulu could only see his head wiggling. Spock, on the other hand, could hear a sort of sawing sound emitting from Jim. The point of a knife broke through the surface near where Jim's chest should be and suddenly, all of his actions made sense.

"Boot knife?" Sulu asked.

"Yeah," replied Jim. "Told you it comes in handy."

"I really should start carrying around one of those."

Jim chuckled. "I'll make it a ship-wide order for all Starfleet officers to carry one, just so you don't feel alone in the matter."

Jim continued to cut through the hard shell, his face furrowed in concentration. Beads of sweat dripped down his brow; the pressure of hanging upside while exerting so much energy to cut through the plaster-like material was getting to him. It wasn't helping his concussion either. His vision blurred and he struggled to maintain an even breathing pattern, but that was somewhat difficult when he had a couple of bruised ribs. Well, at least they were only bruised, albeit badly, and not cracked or broken. That would've made things so much more difficult.

Finally, Jim managed to crack open the covering over his torso to his neck. The pieces of cocoon fell to the floor where it shattered to smaller pieces. Jim grinned as he stretched out his arms, but he only let himself bask in his success for a brief moment before he exhaled and did a crunch up to work on his legs, hiding his wince as his ribs throbbed harshly.

Sulu let out a low whistle at the sight of Jim holding his position for so long.

Spock sent Sulu a questioning gaze. "I do not understand why you have whistled, Lieutenant Sulu."

"Oh...uh...it's just that it's difficult to hold yourself like the way Kirk is for an extensive amount of time. Most don't have the abs for it."

"Then why must you whistle?"

Jim and Bones both let out a snort.

Jim let himself fall back down to grin at Spock. "Sulu is merely expressing his admiration of how hot my body is. Don't worry about it, Spock," laughed Jim as Sulu spluttered in indignation. "You ready, Spock?"

"For what, may I ask?"

"For me to save you, of course!"

It was only then did the rest of them realize that Jim had already freed himself and was now hanging upside by wrapping his ankles around the strand of spider-web.

"Now when did that happen?" muttered Sulu.

"Jim, please don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing..." groaned McCoy.

"I would, but then I would be lying," Jim replied as he started to swing his body back and forth

"Just don't break your neck, alright?"

"Sure, Bones, sure."

Jim used the spider-web to increase his momentum and he swung farther and farther like a pendulum. At the apex of his arc, he let go and arched his back so that he managed a flip in mid-air. Gracefully, he reached out towards the end of his somersault and grasped the branch that Spock was connected to. He rode out his momentum, flipping over the branch a few times. Once settled, Jim heaved himself upwards so that he was doing a handstand on the branch and let his legs fall. With absolute perfect timing, Jim twisted his legs so that they went right between the gap his arms created and ended up sitting right on top of the branch.

Turning slightly, Jim smirked at Bones, who rolled his eyes, and Sulu, whose jaw had dropped open.

"Now would be the time for another whistle, Sulu," laughed Jim.

"How...how did you do that?" gaped Sulu.

"I joined a Chinese acrobat act for some time while traveling the Eastern side of the world. Picked up a few tricks."

"How many 'tricks' have you picked up over the years, Jim?" asked Spock.

Jim's eyes sparkled with amusement. "I can't answer that question, Spock. Otherwise, you'd all get bored if I don't surprise you once in a while. Hold still, alright?"

Like before, Jim let himself hang upside, locking his knees around the branch. Wordlessly, he started to dig his knife into Spock's cocoon. He worked quickly and steadily, only slowing down when it started to break apart.

"You can probably free yourself now, Spock," Jim said as the last of the outer shell fell to the ground. "Grab onto me so you don't fall and crack your head open."

Spock nodded and grasped Jim's forearm tightly as he kicked hard, shattering the last of his bindings. He let out a light gasp when his shoulder jarred as gravity pulled him downwards.

"You alright?" grunted Jim. His expression was strained as he struggled with Spock's weight. "Can you get yourself down?"

Spock glanced down and did some quick mental calculations before looking back at Jim. "Yes. You can release me."

Without a second bidding, Jim slowly let Spock go and watched as the Vulcan grab onto a thread of web. Once he slid down to the ground, Spock immediately started to survey their surroundings, looking for an escape route.

With a little bit more effort than before, Jim pulled himself upwards, pausing on top of the branch to breathe through the nausea and pain.

"Jim, you alright?" asked Bones, ever so observant about his best friend's health.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Jim breathed as he stood, taking his time to find his balance before he took a step onto the thin, but strong threads of web.

As his high-wire act brought him closer to the two, both Sulu and McCoy could see how sweaty and pale his face was, not to mention his staggered breathing pattern. Normal people would have written Jim's state as a result of his aerobatics, but Sulu and McCoy knew better.

"Jim..." McCoy started.

"Later, Bones," sighed Jim, "We don't know when that spider is coming back."

He crouched down and glanced at the two of them. "So, who wants to be freed first?"

Sulu swiveled around the few inches he could and glanced at McCoy. "As much as I would like to be back upright, I think you should get McCoy out first. His face looks like a tomato," said Sulu.

"He always looks like that," grinned Jim.

"That's because you shoot my blood pressure through the roof, Jim!"

"You should learn the meaning of patience, Bones. It'll do you good." But even as he said that, he shifted his weight and dropped downwards. He made sure that Bones couldn't see his face by keeping level with the doctor's chest because he knew that his head and his ribs were screaming at him in protest now. There was no way he would be able to hide that from Bones and he just didn't need to have the doctor hovering over him yet.

"I'm more than patient with you," snapped McCoy, though there was no bite in his words.

Jim worked quickly this time around, knowing that his control over his body was going to fade on him soon. His movements were swift and efficient, slicing through the hard shell with practiced ease. In moments, he was sticking the knife back into his boot and reaching out a hand towards McCoy.

"Grab my hand, Bones. Then kick as hard as you can."

Bones looked uneasy. "You sure?"

"You don't trust me?" asked Jim, his tone light and teasing.

"Of course I trust you. I'm worried about your lack of self-preservation."

In other words, he was afraid that his weight would cause further damage to Jim's already battered body, and he wasn't get to let that happen if he could prevent it.

Jim rolled his eyes, completely understanding Bones' line of thought. "I promise you, if you're going to drag me down, I'll be the first to let you go. Deal?"

Bones nodded, satisfied. "Ready?"

"Whenever you are."

Bones kicked hard in response and he grunted as he fell, caught by Jim's outstretched hand. His head snapped up as he heard Jim's hiss of pain. Now that he could actually look at his best friend's face, he could see that Jim had gotten paler and there was a greenish tinge to his cheeks. The worst part was that McCoy could tell that Jim's pupils were blown to hell. Instantly, McCoy made the diagnosis.

"Damn it, Jim!" he snarled.

"Bones," Jim cut McCoy off with one strained word. "Grab that spiderweb next to you and get yourself down. I can't hold you for long."

Despite how he hated to leave Jim behind when he clearly needed medical intervention, McCoy knew that he wouldn't help anyone by keeping a hold on his friend. Reaching out, he grasped the web and held himself up for a brief moment.

"The second you get your ass to the ground, you keep it there, ya hear me?"

Jim gave him a small smile. "Sure, Bones. Sure."

Shooting Jim one last concerned look, Bones reluctantly slid downwards. Jim didn't even wait to see if his friend made it safely before he set to work on Sulu.

"Kirk, you don't look so good," Sulu commented.

"Lies, I'm always good-looking," Jim huffed back.

"While that is debatable, you're looking kinda green, man."

"I won't throw up on you, promise. That's reserved for Bones."

"Not exactly what I'm worried about."

"I won't let you fall, Sulu."

"Not worried about that either."

"Spider?"

"That concussion you got going on."

There was a long pause as Jim continued sawing. "I'm fine," he finally returned, knowing full well that he couldn't deny it.

"I'm sure you are. All those back-flipping stunts must've helped quite a bit."

"It did wonders," Jim quipped back. "So, how did you and Spock get taken down by that spider?"

"I got knocked out, like you. I twisted my ankle pretty badly in the process, and I think Shelob stung Spock too."

"Shelob? Really? You're naming the spider after a thousand year old book?"

"Lord of the Rings is a classic! And you're no better for actually knowing what I'm talking about!"

"Genius here, remember? I know all."

Sulu opened his mouth to reply, but was sidetracked by the sound of a sharp cracking above him. "What was that?"

Jim glanced up before turning his attention back to Sulu, his movements quicker now. "Nothing."

"Kirk..." Sulu started, just as another crack could be heard. Then, he felt both of them fall a couple of inches before they stabilized again. He swallowed hard. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably," came the flippant answer.

"Shit."

"My sentiments exactly." Kirk was moving furiously now. "Kick when I say, got it?"

"Got it."

Sulu glanced down. They were quite a distance away from the hard ground. If the branch that they were on broke, they would both fall to their deaths. But he didn't feel the gut-wrenching fear as he thought he would upon thinking of his possible immediate death. No, he had faith in the Kirk factor. It had saved him more than once, and he had no doubts that his ingenious leader would pull through again.

Yet, he always forgot how much the universe seemed to hate Kirk. In the next second, the branch holding him snapped, just as the last of the cocoon fell away. His stomach rose into his throat as he plunged downwards, only to be stopped abruptly by Jim lunging for him.

Gravity pulled at Sulu, even as Jim's arm held onto him. With a sickening sound, Sulu both heard and felt Jim's shoulder pop out of its joint under the combination of his weight and momentum.

Jim's yelp of pain froze Sulu's blood.

"Jim!" he exclaimed, his voice dripping with worry.

Jim didn't face him, turning his head slightly to avoid contact. "Spock!" shouted Jim. "I can't hold him!"

Then those bright blue eyes were upon him. "Sulu, you trust me, right?"

"With my life."

"Good." And Jim let go of him.

For a heart-stopping moment, Sulu felt terror consume him as he free-fell more than a hundred feet, unable to even let out a scream.

And then there were abnormally warm arms buffering his fall as they caught him. Struggling to breathe normally again, Sulu looked up at Spock.

"Thanks, Spock," he breathed.

"You are welcome. How is Jim?" Spock asked as he set Sulu down on the ground.

Sulu let out a small cry as he accidentally put pressure on his left ankle. Immediately, Spock reached out to steady him.

"It seems your ankle is broken, Lieutenant."

Sulu waved Spock away, looking skywards for Jim. Their fearless leader was sliding down a rope of spider-web with one arm; his right was held rigidly against his side. As he came closer to the ground, it became obvious that his right shoulder wasn't aligned properly. It almost made Sulu nauseous to see Jim's arm a few centimeters longer than it should be.

McCoy was already waiting for Jim, tapping his foot impatiently. As soon as Jim's feet touched the floor, McCoy descended on him like a swarm of locusts, helping him to sit comfortably on a rock as the doctor checked him over.

Sulu flinched at the sound of Jim hissing in pain as McCoy touched his dislocated shoulder. Jim glanced up at Sulu at that moment, frowning in concern at him.

"You okay, Sulu?"

"I'm fine. I'm not the one with a dislocated shoulder."

"Not a big deal." Jim shuffled a little, earning him a glare from Bones, before giving Sulu a sheepish expression. "Sorry, Sulu."

Sulu frowned. "What for? I'm the one who pulled your arm out of your joint."

"I said I wouldn't let you fall."

Ah, Kirk's shyness made sense now. Words for Kirk held such heavy meaning. Sulu wasn't sure if it was a result of Jim's absentee mother or his apparently horrid childhood, but Jim never made a promise that he couldn't or wouldn't keep. Not for the first time, Sulu felt a rush of anger at whomever or whatever it was that damaged such a kind soul.

So there was only one thing Sulu could do at that point: shrug and give an air of nonchalance. "No harm, no foul."

Jim's blue eyes brightened up and Sulu gave him a warm smile. It lasted for maybe a second before Jim's "Captain" face was back on.

"Spock, do we have a way out?"

Spock gave him a nod, "Yes. There seems to be a tunnel leading out; however, I cannot be entirely sure."

"That's a start. We have any supplies?"

"Negative. I have a communicator and Doctor McCoy has his tricorder."

"Which is more than enough. Come on, we should get going before the spider comes back."

Spock just raised his eyebrow at Jim, who was looking far more haggard than he probably had expected. The young Captain was extremely pale, his body was stiff with pain. Spock could easily read injured ribs, based on past experiences.

Jim rolled his eyes. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, and I'm a fairy princess," grumbled McCoy as he read the readings of his tricorder.

"Doctor?" Spock prompted.

"He's got a pretty bad concussion, a few bruised ribs, and a dislocated shoulder."

"I could've told you that," muttered Jim. "Bones, just shove my shoulder back in."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Sulu.

"No. Without medical supplies, we can't guarantee lasting nerve damage," answered Leonard, but even as he said that, he was already considering it. Because knowing Jim, he would pop it back in regardless of the consequences. It would be safer if Bones did it for him.

And Jim knew it too. Jim just sucked in a breath and tried to relax his body. "Do it."

Bones didn't even give Jim a warning before he expertly popped Jim's shoulder back into its joint.

His vision went white for a brief second as his nerves ignited with fire. He couldn't hold back the scream of pain completely and he hunched over himself, hugging his throbbing, aching shoulder against his body. Instantly, he felt warm hands keeping him from falling over.

"Breathe, Jim. Breathe!" Bones' voice said urgently through the burning agony.

Forcing himself to obey his friend, Jim inhaled and exhaled deeply, working past the nerve-wracking pain. By the time he pushed it back to a low throb and opened his eyes, Spock, Sulu, and Bones were hovering close to his face.

Uncomfortable with intimacy, Jim shuffled back a couple of centimeters. "I'm fine, guys."

All three raised one eyebrow at him.

"Have you guys been practicing that?" But Jim's joke fell flat with how weak his voice was.

Suddenly, a resounding thud echoed in the cavern, followed quickly by another and another. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was making those sounds.

Jim lunged to his feet, stumbling slightly before Bones steadied him. "Spock, you said there was a tunnel?" he said quickly.

"Yes, but I cannot ascertain if it is indeed a way out."

"Best shot we got now. Sulu, can you walk?"

Sulu winced. "Maybe?"

Jim just turned back to Spock and gave him a curt nod. Immediately, Sulu found himself being supported by the Vulcan and already rushed to the tunnel, followed closely by McCoy and Jim.

"Bones, give me your tricorder," yelled Jim as they sprinted the hundred meters to the exit.

McCoy knew better than to question his friend and tossed it to him. As he did, he caught sight of the massive spider lumbering towards them. Fear licked at him until he saw Jim tinkering with the tricorder with one hand. The younger man had an expression of determination; there were no signs of concern or panic – just the look of a man with a plan.

If anything, that was what allayed McCoy's trepidation and he reached out to grab Jim's left elbow, guiding him so that he could focus solely on whatever it was that he was working on. Jim subtly shook him off and pushed him deeper into the tunnel that they had just run into.

Jim glanced up once, checking the location of his friends in front of him before stopping a few feet from the entrance.

Only McCoy noticed and he skidded to a stop as well. "Jim, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

At his words, Spock and Sulu faltered, looking back at them.

Jim waved them forward. "Keep going! Go! I'll be right behind you."

But none of them listened and even took a step towards him as Shelob closed in. Jim didn't have time to worry anymore. In that moment, the spider was a mere ten meters from them.

Gritting his teeth, Jim threw the configured tricorder as far as he could. It landed a few feet before Shelob and immediately, Jim turned and started to run away, pulling Bones with him. Spock and Sulu followed suit. They only managed to clear another ten meters before a massive explosion rocked them off their feet, throwing them onto their stomachs. Seconds later, rocks crumbled to the ground, forcing them to shield their heads with the arms. Sound of large crashes, like canons striking a stone castle, reverberated in their ears. The high pitched, inhuman shriek was cut off as large boulders landed harshly onto the ground, crushing whatever was beneath it.

Then, there was silence.

Breathing heavily, all four turned slightly to look backwards. The entrance was now caved in, covered in huge stones; the spider was no longer in sight.

"Shit, Kirk…did you just…?" breathed Sulu, disbelief clear on his face.

"Did I just create a grenade out of a medical tricorder?" Jim grinned broadly. "Yeah, I did."

Sulu whistled. "Damn."

Jim chuckled, but his laughs ended in wheezing coughs.

McCoy reached over, patting Jim on the back. "You cracked your ribs with that stunt, didn't you?"

There was no answer except harsh breathing.

"Captain, are you alright?" asked Spock as he rose to a sitting position.

"Yeah…" Jim panted. With Bones' help, he pulled himself upright and leaned against the wall of the tunnel. His sore right arm was hanging limply by his side while his left curled around his chest. His face was paler than before; dust stuck to his skin because of the sweat that covered his brow. Jim could feel his control over his body fading as the adrenaline started leaving his veins.

"At least Shelob isn't a problem now," murmured Sulu. "All that's left is to get out."

"Does our communicator work?" asked Jim.

Spock checked quickly. "No, it does not. There seems to be interference."

"Of course," grumbled McCoy, "Why does that _not_ surprise me?"

"Spock, take Bones and see if you can find an exit."

"First of all, I'm going nowhere with that green-blooded hobgoblin. Secondly, we're not leaving you alone while you're injured."

"I agree with Doctor McCoy."

"You're not leaving me alone. I've got Sulu, right?"

Sulu looked unsure. "I've got a broken ankle. There's not much I can do."

Jim sighed as the overprotective hens stood over him. "Someone has to explore this place and you both know as well as I that it isn't wise to do that alone. And it doesn't make any sense for injured people to join in the exploration."

"It doesn't make any sense for injured people to remain alone and vulnerable in an unknown place," returned Spock.

"Does it look like we're in any danger here? None of our injuries are so severe that it's life-threatening – just inconvenient."

"Jim, I do not feel comfortable traveling with Doctor McCoy and leaving you two behind."

"I can make this an order, you know."

"Captain…"

"You're wasting time arguing with me, Spock. You know I'm being logical."

Spock did know and recognized the resolution within his Captain's blue eyes. Lieutenant Sulu had a broken ankle and no weapons; Jim had a boot knife, but probably couldn't even see straight. As Jim had said, there were no life-threatening injuries. At worst, Jim could have some lasting nerve damage caused by his relocated shoulder. It made sense for both Spock and Doctor McCoy to wander out – the two of them could cover more ground than Spock alone. Kirk's logic was sound, but that didn't mean that he was pleased with leaving him behind.

His shoulders dropped minutely – the change in posture so small that no one but Uhura or Kirk could have noticed. As it was, Jim knew immediately that he had won the argument, at least with Spock.

"Don't go too far in. If you can't find anything within half an hour, turn back and we'll figure something else out. Don't separate, alright, you two? Caves can be tricky. Be careful of sinkholes and watch where your feet go. It can get slippery in here. Got it?"

"Understood."

"Are you serious, Spock? We're really just going to frolic outta here and leave two injured people alone?"

"I assure you, Doctor, there will be no 'frolicking' involved. As to the second part of your question, Jim's logic is sound and we will return swiftly."

"Half an hour, Bones. Thirty minutes. That's all."

McCoy glared between Jim and Spock for a moment before conceding. He sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. "Fine. Thirty minutes. Don't do anything stupid while we're gone, ya hear, Jim?"

"Who me?" Jim smiled with all his teeth, perfectly imitating the tone of a Southern Belle. "Why, I never."

Bones just glowered at him.

Jim rolled his eyes. "Yes, got it. Nothing stupid. Scout's honor."

"Like you were ever a boyscout," Bones muttered back. "Come on, hobgoblin, let's go."

The two cast one last worried glance at Jim and Sulu before heading down the long tunnel. As they disappeared into the darkness, Jim finally sagged against the wall, leaning heavily upon it for support. He closed his eyes as he swallowed hard, hoping that it would alleviate his nausea, but with no avail.

Sulu cleared his throat.

"What, Sulu?" sighed Jim. "You want to lecture me too?"

"Nope. That's not my job."

Jim heard shuffling noises and cracked open an eye to see Sulu moving abnormally close to him. The pilot's face was pinched in pain and, like Jim, dust was sticking to his skin because of the sheen of sweat.

"You alright?"

Sulu gave him a look.

Jim chuckled, "Right. Stupid question."

"You're turning a bit green, Kirk."

"I'm setting a new fashion trend. Trying to be more like Spock."

Sulu laughed, sending vibrations across their touching shoulders. Before Jim could really comprehend was going on, Sulu had snaked an arm behind his back and pushed his head to lean on him.

Shock made him struggle for a brief moment before Sulu gently patted his head, like he was comforting a small child.

"You've done enough for now, Kirk. The least I can do is get you comfortable, so just relax. Or McCoy will have both our asses."

Feeling slightly abashed and touched, Jim forced himself to relax by a small increment. He _was_ tired and his head was killing him. It couldn't hurt to rely on someone else for once.

Sulu smiled at the small measure of trust Jim had placed in him and shifted again, making it more comfortable for Jim to lean his head on his shoulder. As he did, Jim's keen ears caught an odd sound.

He stiffened and raised his head, frowning as he peered down the tunnel where they had come from. Sulu knew better than to ask and felt his hand twitching towards where his phaser was supposed to be.

Suddenly, the sounds of thunder echoed around them and Jim felt his heart stop when he realized what it meant.

"Fuck!" He lunged to his feet, wavering slightly, before roughly jerking Sulu up to his feet.

Sulu yelped as he accidentally put pressure on his broken foot. Jim ignored it, wrapping Sulu's arm around his shoulders and started running them both down the route that McCoy and Spock had taken earlier.

The crashes of rocks tumbling down around them grew louder and louder until that was all that they could hear. Dust and debris came flying up as boulders collapsed into the tunnel, sending huge tremors through the ground. Stones of all sizes rained down, making it hard to see and navigate through. Jim stumbled more than once, trying to catch his footing while keeping Sulu steady, but Mother Nature was not their friend.

A large crack resonated directly above their heads.

"Jim!" shouted Sulu.

His warning was all Jim had before pandemonium broke loose.

Panic rushed through Jim's veins as he helplessly watched their only hope of escape disappear behind a curtain of rock. In that second, Sulu threw himself on top of Jim, protecting his friend as best as he could. Jim felt Sulu's body jolt as a rock struck him sharply on the head just as the last of the rocks settled.

Only then did he see the blood pool around the ground where Sulu had collapsed, diluting into the icy, cool freshwater that streamed around them. Frantically, Jim pressed his fingers against Sulu's neck and found a strong, steady pulse.

Reassured that Sulu had only been knocked out and nothing worse, Jim quickly surveyed their surroundings, scanning for an exit. The explosion earlier had decimated any support that the already unstable cave had and unearthed an underground river.

Now, they were trapped within a stone tomb with the water levels around them climbing steadily higher and higher, and Sulu was completely out for the count.

Jim didn't have to be a genius to know that they were in deep, _deep_ trouble.

He tightened his grip on Sulu to keep both their heads above water, sucked in a deep breath, and did the only thing he could do: shout as loudly as he could and hope that somehow, Spock could hear him.

* * *

"I think we should go back," McCoy said for the fifth time.

Spock would have sighed if he wasn't a Vulcan. "I understand. I am also concerned about Jim and Lieutenant Sulu. However, it would be more beneficial to them if we return to the _Enterprise_ as soon as possible. As such, it is only logical if we search for an exit."

"I know, I know. I get that." McCoy shoved his hands into his pocket. "Doesn't mean that I have to be happy about it."

"That does not seem any different than usual, Doctor McCoy."

Leonard glared at Spock. "Like you're any better, you emotionless, green-blooded pointy-eared…"

Spock raised his hand as his entire body stiffened, warning Leonard into silence as he cocked his head, listening intently. McCoy gave Spock a questioning gaze.

"I heard something."

"Obviously. What did you hear?"

"Thunder? I am not sure. It has stopped already."

"Then let's keep going. The sooner we find an exit, the better."

McCoy took two steps forward before Spock reached out and gripped him hard on his upper arm.

He jerked back. "What?"

Spock paled and something akin to fear crossed his face.

McCoy swallowed hard as a stone dropped in his stomach. "What?" he repeated, almost breathlessly. But he knew the answer before Spock even spoke.

"I think I hear Jim's voice."

McCoy didn't need further explanation. Both of them immediately turned tail and ran back the way they had come. Within a few meters, water was already sloshing at their feet. Another twenty feet and the sight of a closed off tunnel greeted them. By then, the water was already up to the middle of the calves and even McCoy could now clearly hear Jim's hoarse shouts.

He rushed forward, pounding at the rocks as Spock scanned for weak points. "Jim! JIM! Can you hear me?"

"Bones!" Jim's shout came from a few feet above their heads. "Bones, you got to get Sulu out of here!"

"We're working on it. What the hell happened?"

"Let's just say, blowing up Shelob wasn't exactly a great idea." A cough. "Bones, Sulu's hurt. You got to help him!"

"We gotta get you both out first. Spock, any luck?"

"There is no such thing as luck, Doctor; however, we seem to be out of it," Spock said from where he was crouching.

"What are you talking about, Spock?"

"The rocks have been firmly wedged into place by the weight of the other boulders upon it. It is nearly impossible to create an opening without causing a further cascade, which could harm Jim and Lieutenant Sulu."

"Risk it! Jim's smart enough to avoid falling rocks!"

"That may be so, but Jim said that Lieutenant Sulu was injured, which means that he, alone, is keeping both of them afloat. It will make it substantially more difficult to avoid falling debris."

"What the hell is taking both of you so long?!" shouted Jim. His voice was now at least ten feet above them.

"Jim!" called Spock, "Whatever we do next will cause another collapse. Attempt to awaken Lieutenant Sulu and prepare yourselves."

"Understood. Just us the hell out of here!"

Jim grunted as he adjusted his grip on Sulu. The Asian man was still unconscious, even as the water licked at his chin. Exhaustion was quickly catching up on Jim. His previous injuries combined with carrying another man was draining every single store of energy Jim had. Jim's overworked muscles screamed at him, crying with every movement he made.

He glanced up. There were only a couple more feet to the ceiling before the entire compartment would be flooded. Spock had better work fast.

Jim shifted again, maneuvering Sulu around so that he had one arm free. Then, he slapped Sulu's cheek. Over and over again.

"Wake up, damn it!" He groaned. "Great, now I'm sounding like Bones…"

One more loud smack and Sulu came awake with a splutter and a moan.

"Good morning, sunshine," grinned Jim, barely hiding a grunt as one of Sulu's floundering arms jabbed into his cracked ribs. "Easy there. I've got you."

"What the hell is going on?"

"You got knocked on the head pretty hard, thanks to your idiotic attempts to shield me."

"Did it work?"

"Yeah, it did. Thanks. Doesn't mean you're not an idiot."

"Pot, meet kettle."

Jim rolled his eyes and pounded on the wall. "Spock! We ready?"

"Yes. I will count to three." A pause. "Please, be careful."

Jim and Sulu were now straining their necks to get to their precious air.

"Do it, do it, do it!" shouted Jim, right as the water completely enveloped them.

The next few seconds were complete utter chaos.

As Spock removed a particularly large boulder from the right corner of the wall, water from the chamber immediately started gushing out. Both Spock and McCoy leapt back, trying to keep their footing.

Within, the water churned and swirled like a whirlpool, dragging Sulu and Jim downwards. They spun, tumbled, and flipped – unable to make heads or tails of what was up or down. Rocks crashed around them, sending course-altering waves towards them. Each piece of debris was large enough to crush them to pieces, but with whatever mercy the heavens were showing them, the current pulled and jerked them to narrowly miss each one.

From the corner of his eye, Jim watched Sulu twirl beside him and felt immense relief to see that they were both heading towards the small hole that Spock had created for them. But that was shattered a moment later when Jim saw a large boulder sinking directly above Sulu.

With the last piece of his strength, Jim propelled himself forward and kicked at Sulu, shoving him those last few feet to their escape.

Sulu flipped around in time to see Jim give him a reassuring smile before the rock pinned him to the floor. Bubbles fled Sulu's mouth as he shouted at Jim, reaching for him even as the current forced him out.

That was the last thing Jim saw before his lungs gave out on him and everything turned to black.

* * *

Sulu came shooting out of the hole like a cannonball, washing out with a heaving, coughing splutter. Instantly, hands were pulling him upright, away from the shallow pool around their feet.

"You're alright, man. You're alright."

Sulu recognized that Southern accent easily enough and reached up, groping. He gripped McCoy's upper arm tightly.

"Jim…" he breathed.

A flash of panic spread across McCoy's face. "What about Jim?"

"T-trapped! Save him!"

Water splashed onto Sulu's face with the sudden movements of the Vulcan. Bewildered, he turned to see Spock tearing apart the rocks near the opening. The stream had slowed as the amount of water within the chamber reached a low level and Spock didn't hesitate to dive head-first into the cavern.

The Vulcan splashed towards Jim, dropping to a knee beside his friend. Jim was lying motionless on his back, his eyes closed. The rock covered the majority of his chest, crushing him below the water level.

With strength surging in his veins, Spock sprang to his feet and used his entire body to shove at the pinning stone. His shoulder cried in pain as it jammed into the hard, unforgiving surface, but he paid it no attention. He let out a roar of determination and pushed everything he had into the push.

The boulder finally fell aside, freeing the _Enterprise's _Captain from its grasp. But Jim didn't even flinch.

Spock reached for him with trembling hands. "Jim?"

No response.

His mind shut down and with instincts driving his actions, he gathered Jim into his arms and ran to the one person who could help Jim.

McCoy had just gotten the story out of Sulu when Spock rushed out. All the blood in the Georgian man froze at the sight of Jim's limp and pale body in Spock's arms.

"Doctor, he's not breathing," Spock exclaimed. The expressionless mask he always had on was broken, revealing pure, unadulterated panic and fear. Fear for Jim.

That, more than anything, spurred McCoy into action.

"Set him down and lay him flat. You breathe and I'll compress," McCoy dictated.

Spock instantly obeyed, tilting and lifting Jim's head in preparation for resuscitation breaths. Leonard pressed his entwined hands onto Jim's unmoving chest and compressed thirty times. As soon as he stopped, Spock pinched Jim's nose shut and leaned down, sealing his mouth over Jim's and breathed twice for Jim.

McCoy immediately began compressions again. He winced as he heard the resounding crack as his efforts to save Jim broke his already compromised ribs, but he couldn't stop now.

Thirty chest compressions, two resuscitation breaths, and repeat.

Sweat was dripping down McCoy's neck from the strain and Spock's lips were swelling slightly from pressing them onto Jim's.

Minutes passed. Only the sounds of McCoy's "please don't do this to me, Jim, damn it," and Spock's ragged breathing could be heard. When McCoy tired ten minutes later and checked for signs of life, Spock and him wordlessly switched position. Keeping back his Vulcan strength, Spock continued to administer compressions while McCoy pressed his lips onto Jim's and breathed for his best friend.

Thirty chest compressions, two resuscitation breaths, and repeat.

Eighteen minutes and fifty-three seconds later, Jim took his first ragged breath. His blue eyes fluttered open and he almost choked as he struggled to draw in as much air as possible.

McCoy grabbed Jim's face, his hands on Jim's cheeks, and forced the panicking man to look at him. "Jim! Breathe with me! In, out. In, out. There we go. You got it…"

Tears fell unbidden from Jim's eyes as he finally managed to get his respiration under control. His entire body shook from the ordeal, sending shooting pain through him. He was vaguely aware of Spock beside him; Spock's warm hands were on his shoulder. He couldn't tell if it was just him shaking, or if the Vulcan was too.

He took a couple of shuddering breaths before clearing his throat. "Sulu?" he rasped.

"You damn son of a bitch…" swore McCoy, falling back on his heels and pretty much collapsing beside Jim. "He's fine, thanks to you."

"Good…" Jim's eyes slid shut.

"Jim?" asked Spock.

"I'm a'rite," he mumbled back. "Just tired."

McCoy let out a huff of relief. "Spock, is the communicator working yet?"

Spock pulled it out of his pocket and showed it to the doctor. Sounds of water dripping down reached Jim's ears.

He couldn't help but chuckle. 'Anything that could go wrong, would go wrong', was it? Ugh. He hated ancient philosophy.

"You've finally gone mad, haven't you, Kirk?" Sulu said, exasperated. "Even you can't be that crafty to fix a water-logged communicator."

"No, that's not it. Just thinking that I _really_ hate Murphy's Law," replied Jim, sitting up. He winced as the movement put pressure on his ribs. "Bones, did you break my ribs?"

The incredulous tone set McCoy on fire. "I saved your damn life, you freakin' moron."

"If you did the compressions…" Jim's eyes widened. "Spock, you kissed me?!"

The last part came out in a squeak and Spock's cheeks blushed green, but his tone betrayed none of his shyness. "It was necessary, Captain, as you were not breathing on your own."

"Actually, they both kissed you," Sulu piped in.

Jim groaned. "No one tell Uhura. She'll never let me live it down."

"That's all you care about?" snapped McCoy, standing up. "I just saw you carried out like a lifeless doll and breathed for you because you weren't fucking doing it on your own. And all you care about is your goddamn reputation?!"

Jim reached out, grasping McCoy's wrist weakly. His bright blue eyes swallowed McCoy until he was nothing but Bones again. "I'm sorry, Bones. I didn't mean to worry you, or anyone else, for that matter."

Bones deflated, knowing full well that he couldn't remain angry at his friend for so long. "Just don't do it again, Jim."

Jim gave him a small smile. "Sure, Bones, sure."

But both of them knew that behind those empty words, Jim couldn't make that promise. He wouldn't either. Not when there were so many lives that he was responsible for. It just wouldn't be Jim if he didn't care for others.

Bones sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Let's just get out of this damn cave and we'll figure out the whole communicator situation."

"For once, I agree with you, Doctor."

"For once? Are all my ideas so fantastical that you'd never consider them?" McCoy shot back.

"Your words, Doctor."

"Well, you can take my words and shove them up your…"

"Bones," interrupted Jim. "I thought we were going to get out?"

Bones huffed and stalked up to Sulu, pulling the slightly terrified man up to his feet. The doctor, while rough generally, was sure to keep Sulu off his broken ankle. "Spock, you got Jim?"

Spock nodded and stepped before Jim, kneeling down so that his back faced Jim. "Climb on, Jim."

"You are _not_ piggy-backing me, Spock."

"You are exhausted and injured. You have also just recovered from respiratory arrest. Logically, you should have no strength to stand on your feet, let alone walk alongside us. This is, as you say, a 'one time offer'. Now, get on my back."

Jim grumbled quietly before obeying his First Officer, but not before he made one last comment. "If anyone cracks a joke about me riding Spock, I will kick you where the sun don't shine. Got it?"

McCoy and Sulu chuckled, the relief that their friend was alright making them slightly giddy.

"We wouldn't dream of it," said Sulu, grinning.

"Captain, what do you mean by 'riding me'?" asked Spock. "I am not familiar with that colloquialism."

Jim groaned, burying his head into Spock's shoulder, as McCoy and Sulu broke out into guffaws.

"How is this my life?" whined Jim.

"You love it, and you know it," returned Bones.

Jim couldn't help it. He grinned back, his blue eyes sparkling.

God help him, but he really did love his life. Shelob, near-drownings, and the snark included.

Perhaps, he truly was just an ingenious idiot.

(By the time Spock, McCoy, Sulu, and Jim had made it back out to the jungle, the rest of the Bridge crew of _Enterprise_ and a few Redshirts were already waiting for them, worry and concern written all over their faces. Within minutes, they were all beamed back. Jim and Sulu found themselves in MedBay and McCoy had lots of fun hypospraying the two while Spock hovered around, giving them the "eyebrow of death", as a drugged up Kirk liked to call it.

Later, when Uhura, Chekov, and Scotty asked them what the hell had happened in the three hours that they were down there, the four of them just looked at each other, unable to really explain it in a way that didn't sound like they were pulling it out of their asses.

So Jim just gave them a lazy smile and said two simple words. "Murphy's Law."

Because truly, it really did describe everything that went down.

And then Jim was forbidden from leaving the ship. Again.

They were all a load of wet blankets, the lot of them.

But Jim wouldn't change it for the world, Murphy's Law be damned.)

* * *

So, I hope you all enjoyed it and that it met your expectations. I couldn't decide who to resuscitate Jim and the votes were pretty much even, so I did both of them. Hopefully, that was okay. Really hope I didn't disappoint anyone. So nervous...

Again, let me know what you'd like to see in the next installment!

Please review and let me know what else I can do to make things better!

~ Kanae Yuna

**Edit (06/20/13): Some reviewers have mentioned the fact that the CPR being performed on Jim is too long to be realistic. While it is true that going without oxygen for more than 10 mins usually means that the brain dies, if CPR is being performed immediately and is performed correctly, it is possible to slow that process for a much longer time. There are those who have come back from respiratory arrest after 45 or more minutes of CPR (though that is rare) and most associations/organizations agree that that it is standard to stop CPR after 30 mins. Some even argue that hitting the 20 min mark is pushing it, hence me choosing a time right below that. And I know that being cold (because of the water) will cause that amount of time to decrease dramatically, I like to think that Spock carrying Jim warmed him up enough (he is Vulcan and nice and toasty, after all) to be fine. At least that is what I have researched when I wrote this chapter. If I am blatantly wrong or just throwing out nonsense, feel free to correct me. I won't take offense at all. I'd like my story to be as scientifically correct as possible and I like to learn new things, so let me know if you find evidence that says otherwise and I'll be happy to change it. I mostly want to leave it unchanged for now, because otherwise, there's no reason for Bones to switch positions with Spock and I really liked that, so uh...let me know? Lol. Anyway, thanks for reading and being so supportive! :)**


	5. Where There's a Will, There's a Way

Hey guys! Here's the next installment! Due to popular demands, it revolves around Jim showing off his fighting skills. Hopefully, it meets your guys' expectations. I do have to give a warning though: this chapter does contain more blood and violence compared to my other chapters, so I apologize ahead of time if it makes anyone uncomfortable or upset.

Again, as always, please let me know how I did. I'm (like always) really nervous.

Also, I have listed out three possible options for the next story at the end of this chapter, so please take a look and put in your votes!

With that, enjoy!

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any _Star Trek _franchise.

No _Into Darkness _spoilers.

* * *

**V**

**Where There's A Will, There's A Way**

It was all Chekov's fault. That was Jim's story and that was what he was sticking with. Not that he wasn't somewhat to blame for his current situation, which actually could have been pretty cool if the lives of his crew weren't at stake.

As it was, Jim found himself holding a weapon that he had only seen in holos - a pair of sais - and clashing against those who stood between him and Uhura's life. For the first time, Jim actually thought that perhaps Sulu had a point to never letting him beam down, because _clearly_, trouble follows him _everywhere_.

It started out as a simple task (wasn't it always?) to visit the Kalians - a race that had started developing advanced technology - and see if they were interested in joining the Federation. The people resembled those that lived on Nibiru - pale with large black eyes and extremely pronounced blackish veins - and they prided on scientific knowledge as well as physical prowess. They towered at an average of seven to eight feet and were abnormally built with bulging muscles that a body builder would be jealous of. Their homeland resembled that of Ancient Greece: dirt roads and marble architecture marvels. They were especially proud of the large courts where they gathered to pit two fighters together, using lives as stakes. Such entertainment were an often occurrence and they seemed to revel in the bloodshed.

Jim had blistered at the thought of needless deaths for the sake of "fun". It cut close to a memory of Tarsus when Kodos forced starving children to fight to the death, only to kill the survivor seconds after his victory. Just the mere idea of it had filled Jim's blood with cold fury, but he had a job to do. He had no place to judge another culture from his eyes - he had to see things as they saw it. From what he could tell, being able to fight in these games as the defending champion was an immense honor. It was an entirely different story for the one opposing - usually, it was a form of punishment of definite death.

When Jim, Spock, Bones, Chekov, and Uhura met with the Kalians' Emperor, they were met with decorum and excitement, even though they were forced to hand over all their phasers and communicators. Bones was allowed to keep his tricorder, just in case Jim had an allergic reaction. Though unusual of a race that reveled in bloodshed, Jim didn't question the Kalians' insistence on entering their grand hall weaponless - a goodwill gesture on their part - though he came to regret that decision later.

The Emperor's scientists had worked hard to develop warp technology. Even Spock had to admit that their ridiculously rapid progress of a few decades was a stroke of brilliance of a few people, quite like Leonardo Da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin in their time. So Jim just smiled and let Spock and Chekov talk science with them. It seemed to make them especially happy to talk with geniuses of their caliber.

That was until Chekov, in his excitement, accidentally brushed the right hand of the Empress amidst his floundering, which was a criminal offense. And then, in his haste to apologize, he backed directly into a medium-sized podium in the center of the Great Hall that held the natives' sacred, gold-leaf covered chalice. The delicate artifact tilted off its pillow and crashed to the ground, scattering into hundreds of smaller pieces.

The outraged cry from the Emperor was the only warning the crew of the _Enterprise _had before Chekov was surrounded by phasers a few inches from his face. As soon as the Kalians moved a single finger, Jim sprang forward, forcing his way in so that he stood between Chekov and the enraged Emperor. Spock and Bones both flanked him, glaring daggers at the Emperor, while Uhura stood directly behind Chekov, covering their backs. Jim could feel Chekov cowering behind him, confused and scared. That alone made everyone in the crew tense with subdued anger. Chekov, being the youngest, had become a sort of mascot among them. His cheery disposition often saved them from a foul or upset mood. He was their little brother, and they were all fiercely protective of him.

"You dare defy our laws?!" roared the Emperor, rising to his feet in a fit of fury.

Jim didn't flinch at the sight of the eight and a half foot alien towering over him. "I'll do more than that if you continue to threaten my Ensign," replied Jim, keeping his tone level and calm. "He meant no harm and as his Captain and superior, I apologize on his behalf."

"He destroyed our Mother Goddess' relic! He must pay!"

"He is under my command. I will take full responsibility and whatever punishment you deem fit."

"Jim!" hissed Bones as a warning.

Chekov was frantically tugging on the back of Jim's shirt, trying to get his friend to take back his words, but Jim ignored them both.

He raised his chin defiantly and his blue eyes were hard with determination. "I take full responsibility for him. Do what you will with me, just leave him be."

The Empress leaned forward from her bejeweled throne and gazed at Jim with fascination and confusion. "The young one's crimes are only punishable by death. And yet, you are still willing to take his place?"

Jim squared his shoulders and without hesitation, "Yes."

After a moment of consideration, the Emperor sat back down and nodded. "You are brave, Captain Kirk, and that is admirable. Very well, I will allow you to take your Ensign's place on the execution block."

He flicked his wrist in a dismissive manner. "Take them away."

"Them? What do you mean by 'them'?" exclaimed Jim as soldiers roughly grabbed his arms and pressed them harshly behind his back.

He twisted, seeing Spock, Bones, and Uhura all shouting and struggling against their imprisoning guards.

"Let them go! We had an agreement!" yelled Jim, "My life for theirs!"

"You traded your life for the Ensign's, not for theirs. One life is not tantamount to four," the Emperor rumbled.

Jim dug his heels into the ground, preventing his captors from moving him anywhere. "Why must _their_ lives be forfeited?! They have done no wrong!"

"The punishment for touching and subsequently breaking our Mother Goddess' Holy Relic is the immediate execution of the offender and his family. You were the one who said that your crew is equivalent to your family, were you not?"

Fuck. Jim had to give him that one, but he would be damned if he let his friends come to harm.

"Kirk, do something!" exclaimed Uhura, already being dragged off by a single soldier.

Spock was being handled by three (which Jim kind of took offense to, since he only had two), while McCoy was being taken care of in a similar manner as Uhura.

Chekov had run off, pointlessly kicking at the legs of the guard that had a hold on Uhura, shouting and cursing in Russian. Jim really had to talk to the young man about his foul language when they got out of this.

"Jim!" Bones shouted.

It had been a while since Jim had actually heard a twinge of fear in his best friend's voice, and a haze of red covered his vision.

With a mighty roar that he didn't think he was capable of, he elbowed his left captor as hard as he could in his right kidney, following by a swift kick at the back of the knees. The soldier went down in a daze while Jim went to town on the one on his right. A few well-placed jabs in the solar plexus and a nice, hard round-house kick to the jaw sent the native flying back a few feet. Without missing a beat, Jim slammed his left foot onto the top of the first soldier's head, cruelly smacking his pale face straight into the marble floor.

"What do you think you are doing?!" screeched the Emperor.

Jim pointed his right index finger straight at the Emperor, a snarl making its way to his face. "I challenge you to a Krav Kali with my friends' lives as the prize."

The Emperor rose, his black eyes glittering in irritation. "We cannot turn down such a challenge."

Jim smirked, "I know. It is written in your laws, is it not? And we all know how much you_ love _your laws. Choose your champions, Emperor, unless you dare to fight me yourself."

"Fine. Guards, take him away and ready him. As for the others, send them to the courts and keep them in individualholdings."

Three more soldiers surrounded Jim, flanking him like Bones and Spock did earlier. He wasn't being treated as a prisoner anymore - just someone they need to keep an eye on.

He flashed his crew a smile. "We're going to be fine, promise."

"Jim, be careful. It will not be easy," said Spock, his tone low and dire.

"When is it ever for us? Chekov, you're a free man, so you're coming with me."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Jim," Bones added, worry written all over his face.

"I always know what I'm doing, Bones. Relax."

"Like I can ever relax when it comes to you. Just, promise me you'll be okay?"

Jim deflected. "Don't let them manhandle you guys too much. You're now prized leverage, so use it against them. Spock, keep them safe, got it?"

"Understood, Captain. And you as well."

"See you all in a bit!" Jim waved.

With a curt nod from the Emperor, Jim was led out of the hall, followed closely by an extremely worried Chekov.

The majestic wooden double doors shut with a loud, resounding thud behind their Captain, as if it was defining the final fate of James T. Kirk.

* * *

"So, what the hell is a Krav Kali anyway?" grumbled McCoy to his companions.

He, Spock, and Uhura had been locked within individual jail metal cells at one end of the large gladiator court. They couldn't see past where they had been imprisoned because a curtain covered the outside of their bars - like circus exotic animals ready to be presented to the crowd. As Spock had realized quickly, the bars of their prisons had been modified to have an electric field that sent shocks every time one touched the walls.

The Vulcan was still surveying the cage, looking for weak points, when he answered McCoy. "A Krav Kali is a fight to the death. It is similar to a gladiator battle with primitive weaponry, such as swords or spears; however, there are stakes that one places as collateral. As in something that the defendant is fighting for. In Jim's situation, that would be us."

"I figured that much, you damn hobgoblin."

"Then what are you asking, Doctor?"

"What the hell would a culture that has the beginnings of warp technology choose to fight with swords and outdated crap like that? And why would Jim think that a fight to the death is a good idea?"

"I cannot assume I understand the workings of Jim's mind and therefore I cannot answer that question. I can see logic in his actions, however. The natives seem to revel in these games and it holds great weight within their community. As such, Jim has managed to procure our lives for the moment. Their choice for weaponry could be out of respect of their history. Perhaps they find it more entertaining using weapons that cause a slower and more painful death than phasers."

"Spock, that's not really helping at this moment," sighed Uhura. "You think Kirk can handle a sword? I've seen him fence Sulu once, but he lost."

"Trust me, Jim knows his way around all sorts of weapons," assured McCoy. "He chose to lose to Sulu. He likes to play the 'underestimate me' card a bit too much."

"Like that would help him here. Did you see how he incapacitated his two guards within seconds? I didn't know he could do that."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about him, Uhura. There's a lot of things _I _don't know, and I like to think I'm pretty close to him."

"So what do you think is going to happen?" she asked, biting her lower lip in worry for their Captain.

"I cannot know for certain, but the most likely scenario is that Jim will have to fight a different opponent for each of us. The Kalians will be the one to choose the weapon of battle." Spock hesitated here. "It will be to the death."

"You've said that, Spock. Kirk'll survive, don't worry."

"That is not what I mean, Nyota. In order to win the challenges, Jim must kill the other. It will be difficult for someone such as him who cares so deeply about life in general."

"It's because he cares deeply that he'll do it without hesitation," Bones said with a sad smile. "If our lives are on the line, do you really think that Jim'll show mercy? The problem isn't how he'll handle killing - it's how he'll react to us seeing him kill."

Loud cheers suddenly erupted around them, sounding like roars of lions defending their pride. Both Uhura and McCoy couldn't suppress a flinch as the curtain surrounding them was roughly drawn upwards, enveloping them an abrupt burst of light.

From where they stood, they could see a huge throng of Kalians sitting in the stands within the circular coliseum. All were pounding, screaming, and raising such a ruckus that it even made Uhura and McCoy's ears hurt. Spock had paled at the thunderous noise, but that could have also been because he saw Jim walk onto the dirt field opposite to them, stripped down to his black Starfleet undershirt.

Their Captain was at least a hundred meters away from him. Chekov stood not too far, shuffling his feet in nervousness. Jim, on the other hand, was a picture of confidence; a cocky smirk was plastered on his face. He was unarmed as of now, and he shot a few surreptitious glances towards the rest of his crew before turning back to say something to Chekov, no doubt reassuring the young Ensign.

The Emperor and Empress then made their entrance, gracefully clunking down on their thrones in the space above and between the crew of the _Enterprise_.

The Emperor raised a large hand, quieting the crowd. "Gringer, bring Captain Kirk his weapon for the first round of the Krav Kali."

Kirk stepped forward at the same time as a large Kalian - about eight feet and four inches with large criss-cross scars upon his face - walked towards the center of the court. Gringer stopped at a distance where he was closer to Uhura, Spock, and McCoy. He was dressed sparsely with just long, brownish leather pants that was tied up with a belt. Hanging from either side of his hips were sheaths that only revealed the hilts of his two weapons. Around his muscular wrists were leather cuffs and he wore no shoes, like the rest of the Kalians, leaving his strong, web-like feet bare against the dirt ground.

As the crowd cheered at his appearance, he rippled his bulging arm muscles, flexing them so that his biceps looked like mountains. His abdomen was so clearly defined so that one could see his six-pack along with all the other muscles in his torso. He let out an ear-splitting roar that thundered within the massive coliseum.

In simple terms, the alien was intimidating, to say the least, but Jim had seen far, far worse things.

"I choose a battle of sais!" Gringer exclaimed as the cries of the Kalians died down. He grinned at Kirk, showing his wolf-like teeth. "I hope you last for more than a few seconds, human."

With a flash of movement, Gringer flickered an arm out, tossing a pair of sais towards Kirk where it landed harmlessly in front of his feet.

Jim's blue eyes narrowed, knowing full well that Gringer was disrespecting him with his nonchalant manner, but he wasn't going to take the bait. Gringer had the advantage of power and strength, and judging by his first movements, he had speed too. The one thing Jim had over Gringer was the element of surprise. Gringer was so overconfident in his abilities, so arrogant that he would severely underestimate Jim and make fatal mistakes.

So Jim just leaned down to pick up the sais and examined them as if he had never seen them before. The thin, long blades of the sais were shaped like a trident with the middle one extending a full six-inches. The two surrounding prongs were shorter (ranging only two inches) and slightly curved. The sais had a leather-covered steel hilt that was about four inches long. From what Jim could remember, it was an ancient Japanese weapon that was used in Okinawan martial arts.

Chekov touched his shoulder. "Hawe you used these veapons before?"

"Nope. I've seen them in holos though," he answered truthfully.

Jim didn't have to look at Chekov to see alarm spread across his face.

"Keptin, you do know vhat you are doing, yes?"

Jim turned at last, grinning brightly at the young Russian. "Of course. Lighten up a little, Chekov. It'll be fine, trust me."

"I do, Keptin," returned Chekov with no hesitation. "Just...be careful?"

At that, Jim's smile faltered a little. "I'll try."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Chekov's smile was more than enough to brighten up Jim's day. Jim willingly returned it before turning back to Gringer and wiping his face clean of any emotion. He closed his eyes, mentally running through all holos he had ever seen regarding sais to grasp the basics. He shifted, holding the weapons loosely in his hands, wrapping all his fingers around the hilt and pinching his thumbs against the joint between the handle bar and center blade. But he made no defensive or offensive move. He forced his entire body language to relax, making it seem as though he was no threat.

At this, Gringer smirked and glanced up at the Emperor. He nodded once and instantly, Jim felt his hackles rise. Whatever it was that they were planning, he just knew that he wasn't going to like it.

"Bring out the woman!" the Emperor called out.

Jim hissed, stepping forward. "What is the meaning of this, Emperor?! This is not traditional of a Krav Kali!"

"What do _you _know of our traditions, Captain? You bet their lives. Any Kalian who wants claim to their life can fight for it. And we will start with the woman. If you have any objections, we can execute your crew and you within the hour."

When Jim fell silent, the Emperor waved at the few Kalians who had been stationed beside the captive _Enterprise _crew. Gleefully, they unlocked Uhura's cage and roughly pulled her out, locking a collar around her neck and leashing her to a chain. Two of them licked their lips in lust as they stared at her lithe body, struggling in their grasp. Her handler tugged on her leash, dragging her behind him until she stood directly below and in front of the Emperor.

Jim's grip on the sais tightened tremendously. When Uhura was forcibly shoved to her knees, his knuckles turned white and a dull rush filled his ears, tuning out the angry cries of Bones, Spock, and Chekov.

The Emperor remained oblivious to Jim's change of temper. "Those who want claim to this woman, step forward."

Twelve Kalians - each as built as Gringer - came to stand beside him; all eyes were upon Uhura, drinking in her gorgeous, subdued image.

The handler jerked Uhura's chain again, eliciting a sharp gasp from her. Jeers burst out in the crowd.

Jim gritted his teeth hard, trying desperately to keep his anger in check. "Sorry, Chekov, I can't keep my promise to you."

Before Chekov could even open his mouth to protest, Jim had already strode away from him, coming to a stop a few feet in front of Gringer. When he did, the others instinctively took a step back, leaving them to face off.

Jim flicked his wrist, manipulating his right sai to press against his forearm, and let his knees relax slightly. His entire posture changed - his stance was coiled for an attack at any given time, like a cobra ready to strike down. In an instant, Jim's entire body screamed of danger.

Bones saw Jim's bright blue eyes become so cold, so hardened that it froze the doctor in place, and he could only feel dread wash over him.

"Damn it..." murmured McCoy.

"What is it?" Spock asked, confused.

"They've managed to do the one thing you should never do with Jim Kirk - they've made him angry."

The words sent chills down Spock's spine. He had seen Jim upset, agitated, irritated, and he was _very_ dangerous on those emotions alone. Spock had never once experienced a truly angry Jim, and the thought of it made the Vulcan feel a deep, soul-shaking fear.

McCoy was correct. The Kalians had made a fatal mistake and Jim was going to tear their world apart for it.

The Emperor raised his arms, spreading them as though he was welcoming someone. "May your blood be spilled with honor. Let the games begin!"

In that instant, Jim moved with blinding speed. Dropping low, he flicked his right arm, driving the sai backhandedly into Gringer's right femoral artery. Gringer didn't even have time to react before Jim sprang up, stabbing his left sai into the Kalian's jugular vein.

Gringer let out a bloody gurgle and dropped to his knees. Surprise was written in his dying eyes as he fell over, bleeding out in seconds.

Jim straightened and jerked his sais outwards, flicking off the black blood. He cracked his neck and gave the rest of the challengers a spine-chilling smile.

Shock silenced the crowd and fear crawled into their hearts. A mere human had killed one of their strongest in a matter of seconds - so quickly that some still couldn't comprehend what had happened.

"If you want to live, I suggest you leave now," Jim warned, his voice soaked with venom, as he twirled his sais expertly. "I will not show anymercy."

He raised his right hand, pointing his sai directly at the Kalian who had roughhoused Uhura, and snarled at him. "You, I'm saving for last."

Then he crouched back into a ready position, his sais out in a defensive manner. "It'll be faster if you all just came at me at once."

The Kalians didn't need a second bidding. With vengeance aching within their bones, they rushed forward, their weapons gleaming in the hot sun.

There was a clang as Jim blocked a strike from the left and he ducked a swipe before rotating his right wrist to stab one of the three attackers in his calf. The Kalian fell, only to be met with Jim's knee smashing against his nose, driving the broken bone straight up to pierce his brain. Jim didn't even notice the dead Kalian at his feet before stepping over him to leap at another Kalian in front of him. He stabbed forward and didn't hesitate to twirl around to backhand another, letting the sais slice through two Kalians at the same time. Blackish blood spurted all over Jim, but he ignored it completely.

With no hesitation in his step, he darted ahead and dodged another stab, swirling around to face off with a particularly skilled Kalian. In a rapid succession, Jim parried, blocked, and struck out with the alien, barely missing the sharp blades by a paper's width. There was movement in the side of his eye, but Jim didn't even spare the new attacker a glance. Keeping his attention on the one before him, Jim kicked backwards hard, sending the offender reeling. He made a downwards motion with his right sai, locking blades with the Kalian in front of him, and flicked his wrist harshly. The Kalian's sai went flying away and as his eyes followed the weapon's motion, Jim took the opportunity to twist his wrist upwards, thrusting his sai through the underside of the Kalian's chin.

Blood rained down on him and he had to blink fervently to get it out of his eyes. In that moment, someone landed a lucky hit onto his upper right arm, slicing deeply into his bicep and a little into his triceps.

Jim hissed in pain, but was undaunted by his injury. He rotated and angrily threw his right sai at the one who wounded him. It penetrated the Kalian's skull right between his eyes, and the alien collapsed onto his back with a loud thud.

Jim did a mental count of the remaining Kalians while keeping his left sai pressed against his raised forearm in a defensive motion. There were six bodies on the ground, leaving seven left.

Shit.

He could feel his right arm throbbing and the crimson blood trickling down. A numbness had started to spread, leaving his injured arm almost useless.

Backing up a few steps from the clearly afraid Kalians, Jim cast a furtive glance at Uhura, making sure that she was alright. She was still on her knees; the handler holding onto her chain hard. Her expressions had been laid bare - worry and fear making lines on her face visible when there hadn't been any in the first place.

"Kirk, you alright?" she asked frantically, noticing the slight lull in the heat of the battle.

Her handler angrily jerked her chain and slapped her. The sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed in Jim's ears. For a brief second, all he saw were Uhura's shocked and slightly teary eyes and the reddening mark on her lower right cheek.

"Hey! Hands off of her!" Jim shouted, keeping his eyes on the six standing in a semi-circle.

The Kalian tugged on the chain harder, and Uhura winced. "What are you going to do about it?"

The others lined up before the two, forming a barrier between Jim and Uhura. The unspoken words of "you'll have to get through us first" hung heavily in the air.

Jim gritted his teeth and reached down to wrench his sai out of the dead Kalian's head, hiding the deep ache that the movement caused. "Fine, if that's what you want, that's what you'll get," Jim growled. "I'm going to fucking kill you all."

His entire form changed, completely turning off all defenses he might have had. His feet looked as though they were barely touching the ground; his muscles taut and ready to unleash. In the matter of seconds, Jim's body had become a lethal weapon of sorts.

Then, without hesitation, Jim barreled forward and launched himself at the six Kalians. He struck first, driving the steel butt of his right sai into a Kalian's sternum as he lunged and stabbed his left one fatally into another's stomach. Ducking a swipe at his head, he jerked away and crouched, sweeping his right leg to trip the Kalian that had been winded by his attack. The second the Kalian dropped to the ground, he was met with a blade through the center of his chest where it penetrated through the crack that Jim's earlier blow had created.

A movement to Jim's right, and he was forced to twist around to parry with his left hand. With his arms making an "X" sign and a Kalian's hand caught in the middle, Jim grabbed hold of the alien's wrists. In a flurry of motions, Jim flipped over the Kalian's head and brought the larger being down with him. As both landed hard on the ground, Jim rotated, shoving the Kalian's own weapon through his chest and pierced his heart.

Another Kalian roared and struck out, making Jim jump back, but he lost his footing when he accidentally stepped on the hand of a dead warrior. He felt strong arms reach around under his armpits and effortlessly pick him off the ground, holding him in place with a crushing grip. The last two Kalians smirked and advanced.

"Kirk!" screamed Uhura.

Jim merely grunted in response and waited until the two Kalians were within range. He lashed out with both his legs, pushing off one of the Kalians. By doing so, he made the one holding him stumble. Using his kick's momentum, he flipped backwards, freeing himself and landing on top of the Kalian's shoulders. Snarling, Jim grasped the Kalian's head by the temples with both hands and viciously jerked the alien's head to the right.

There was a loud cracking noise, and the Kalian fell with a broken neck - dead before he even hit the ground. Jim leapt off his back and landed softly onto the dirt floor, still crouched in a ready position.

The two remaining Kalians looked at each other nervously, not noticing that Jim was already raising his arms. With unerring accuracy, Jim threw his sais at the Kalians' head. Both weapons hit the bulls-eye and the Kalians collapsed with sais sticking through their foreheads.

Jim turned around, his cold eyes sending shivers through the Kalian holding Uhura. "And then there was one."

Jim walked forward slowly, but his presence dripped of threat, especially when he casually reached down to pick up a sai with each hand from the prone bodies lying strewn against the dirt.

He stopped about ten feet away from Uhura and cockily beckoned the last Kalian with two fingers.

Though frightened, the Kalian could not back down from such a clear challenge. Roaring, the Kalian ran towards Jim who stood there motionless. Jim let the Kalian come a few inches away from him before springing into action. He smartly sidestepped a downwards slice and countered with a backhanded swipe that cut into the Kalian's back. The Kalian turned around, thrusting his right sai while using his left to block Jim's next attack. Again, Jim danced around his blows, nicking the Kalian in his side. A few more lacerations later, the Kalian realized that Jim was toying with him - injuring him shallowly so that he remained alive. It was a slow torture to the death - Jim's unmerciful punishment for hurting someone he cared about it.

Despite the fury the Kalian felt, there was nothing he could do to beat Jim's superior skills. Slowly and gradually, the cuts became deeper, separating muscle from ligaments, tendons from bones, and severing nerves and arteries. The more Jim twirled around, the more the Kalian bled and suffered, until finally, the Kalian could take no more.

He fell to his knees, "Mercy," he begged, with tears streaming down his face. "Mercy."

Jim sauntered up to him, his face hardened. Without answering, Jim just thrust his left sai through the top of the Kalian's head. He let go, letting the Kalian fall over onto his side, blooding oozing out around the buried sai.

Never before had Bones, Spock, Uhura, or Chekov seen such a show of brutality from their Captain. They could barely even believe that their bright-eyed, carefree, and lighthearted friend could be so vicious. It was hard to overlap this newest side of Jim with what they already knew of him, but he was fighting for them, to protect them. And that was enough for them to discard any fear they may have had about him.

The tension in Jim's body didn't fade away after he had defeated all his opponents though. He bent down, rummaging through the Kalian's pocket before pulling out a single, golden key.

He straightened, scornfully tossed away his remaining sai, and barked out, "Chekov!" as he started to walk away from the battlefield.

Chekov came running, his face pale and tinged slightly green. Jim tossed him the key as he passed by.

"Get Uhura," he said simply.

Chekov nodded shakily and did as he was told while Jim turned to face the deathly silent crowd.

"You wanted blood? You got blood. This is what you get for threatening my crew, Emperor." He smiled icily. "May your blood be spilled with honor," he said caustically and bowed without sincerity.

And he arrogantly strode off the field to let the Kalians clean up the bloody chaos he had left behind.

* * *

When Uhura and Chekov joined Jim on his side of the field, Jim was sitting on a bench in the dark of his room. He was leaning over, his forearms resting on his thighs. His hands hung between his legs, trembling slightly. Sweat dripped down his brow and neck, mixing with the Kalian's black blood. He kept his head ducked, staring at the ground.

With the deafening silence, Uhura and Chekov could hear Jim's harsh panting clearly.

"Kirk?" Uhura asked gently.

At her call, Jim slowly raised his head, running his left hand through his hair. There was a haunted look in his blue eyes as he glanced at them, exhaling hard. He looked tired, as if he had aged a couple of years in that one fight. Subtly, he shifted to hide his shaking hands from his crew.

He plastered a smile on his face. "Hey."

That fake smile was so _wrong _on Jim. It was strained, tortured. It didn't belong on someone like Jim - not when it came to them.

With a huff, Uhura descended on Jim, reaching for him. When she first touched him, he flinched, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she just tore off his right sleeve and tossed it to Chekov.

"Wrap his arm up. Do it tightly so this idiot doesn't bleed out before he saves Spock and McCoy," she instructed before moving to his other side and tore off his left sleeve.

While Chekov obeyed her, she crumbled up Jim's sleeve in her hands and dabbed at the blood around his face, wiping it clean of the ugly black color.

Through all this, Jim didn't say a word or make a sound, save for the small hiss when Chekov tightened the makeshift bandage on his arm. But the tension in his body slowly bled away and a genuine smile found its way until his face.

Uhura couldn't help it and smiled back. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Kirk, but you kick ass. Clearly they chose the wrong weapon."

"Actually, I've never handled a sai before," Jim smirked, his usual cockiness shining through.

It was relieving on both ends that nothing had changed, despite what Jim had done.

Uhura's jaw dropped. "You've got to be shitting me. There's no way you could've fought that well without prior experience!"

"I did watch some holos back in the Academy."

"You can't be serious. That was like five years ago! How can you still remember them?"

Jim tapped the side of his head with his left hand. "Eidetic memory, remember? And I'm a genius. You seem to always forget that fact."

"So you just 'browsed through your memory bank' and picked up the techniques like that?" She snapped her fingers at the last word.

"Yep," Jim beamed.

"Unbelievable. Just...unbelievable."

"Not just a farm boy, am I?" grinned Jim.

"How come you lose to Hikaru then, Keptin?" asked Chekov, sitting down next to Jim, letting their shoulders touch. "You are much better fighter."

The feel of Chekov beside him humanized him, pulling him out from the killing haze he was trapped in.

He playfully ruffled Chekov's hair with his left hand. "I can have off days, can't I?"

Chekov frowned, remembering the Krav Kali again. "Keptin, vill every fight be like this one?"

Jim leaned back slightly, letting his breathing regulate. "Hmm. I don't think so. Not after the show I put on. Besides, can you see anyone want to claim Bones? That man has the outer covering of a porcupine. And Spock? No one can survive his 'eyebrow of death'."

Both Uhura and Chekov giggled.

A horn interrupted them and Jim's amusement instantly disappeared as he got to his feet. Steel reentered his gaze, along with uncertainty - uncertainty of allowing his brutality be shown to his friends again. He knew better than anyone how terrifying he could seem while in the throes of battle; it wasn't something he was comfortable letting Uhura and Chekov - two relatively innocent people - see over and over again.

Uhura and Chekov understood perfectly, but they weren't about to let him run from them. Both stood and positioned themselves at his sides.

"For a genius, you're really stupid. We're not letting you go out alone," Uhura said, knocking her shoulder against Jim's. "So this lone wolf act you're pulling? It's not going to happen."

"Da, ve're family," Chekov added, smiling brightly at his big brother figure. "Through thick and thin, yes?"

Jim felt a little baffled and it clearly showed on his face.

Uhura shook her head in disbelief. "We're going to have to spell this out for you, don't we? Stop thinking so much, Kirk. We know you. You're the arrogant, lecherous James T. Kirk who never takes no for an answer," Uhura's tone was light and amused, but it turned soft and somber, "But you're also the kind of person who will fight through hell and back to save those he cares about. We've always known this, Kirk. Nothing's changed."

"I just killed twelve Kalians in cold blood. And you're telling me that that doesn't bother you in the slightest?"

Chekov shook his head, his curls bouncing comically. "Nyet, because if it vere me, I vould do the same."

The horn blew again, sounding almost impatient.

Jim sighed. "I'm going to make you guys take psych evals as soon as we get back, because clearly, there's something wrong with you two." He cracked his neck and stared determinedly out into the distance where he knew his next opponent was. "But we should probably save Bones before he decides to hypo me out of spite."

Flanked by the two of them, Jim confidently strode onto the field. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, he caught sight of a large sword sticking out of the ground, like the whole Merlin-Arthur-Camelot legends. It had been placed closer to Jim's side, so that he only had to walk a few paces before he reached it.

But Jim made no movements towards it. Instead, he calmly looked over to the other side where Bones and Spock were locked up. There was a rush of smug satisfaction when Jim realized that none of the Kalians had dared to mistreat one of his people like they had with Uhura. He turned his calculating eyes upwards to rest upon the Kalian Emperor. The Emperor's lips were pressed tightly into a thin line; his hands were curled in fists and his eyes had narrowed.

Uhura tugged at his arm subtly, noticing the same thing as he did. "Kirk, the Emperor doesn't seem very pleased with how this is all going."

He almost snorted. "I just killed twelve of his best fighters. Of course he's pissed."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, he may not uphold his end of the bargain now."

Jim paused. "I know. I had that figured from the beginning. But don't worry, I have a plan."

"And when is this plan going to kick in? Because so far, it doesn't look good for us. There's no way we can fight our way off this planet, even with you. And we have no communicators to just beam out."

Jim just grinned at her. "Where there's a will, there's a way." And promptly strode off, leaving behind an exasperated Uhura.

He stopped before the steel sword and took in its dimensions. The double-edged blade looked as though it was approximately forty inches long; the hilt was a two-handed cruciform with a red pommel.

He wanted to laugh. Scotty would have had such a kick out of this: it was a claymore - a Scottish broadsword. This_, _Jim was familiar with, but this type of longsword was heavy. Usually, it was about five to six pounds, which wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that his right arm had numbed and was practically useless because of his injury. Not that he'd show it, of course.

Ignoring the weapon for now, he eyed the Emperor. Jim knew he had to play his cards right if his plan was going to work. He needed to free Bones next, or things would get a bit trickier.

Knowing full well that the ruler was displeased with him, Jim called out, "Are we fighting for the other human? Or should you just let him go now and save yourself the trouble?"

The Emperor roared in anger, rising to his full height, not even knowing that he had just played right into Jim's hands. "You will fight for him, as dictated by the laws of Krav Kali! Come out, Rigo!"

A burly Kalian, though more finely tuned than Gringer, entered the coliseum from behind Spock and McCoy. He too, was clad in just leather pants with leather wrist guards, but he also had on a brown band around his forehead. Hung from the side of his belt was a claymore - larger in size in comparison to Jim's.

Jim cocked his head, taking in his new opponent. "And why do you place claim on my friend's life? He's only human," he asked, honestly curious. "I thought you guys would prize the Vulcan more."

Rigo drew his weapon, and blinked owlishly at Jim. "The human is pleasing to the eyes," he rumbled.

"What?!" yelped McCoy from his cage. "I don't swing that way, buddy!"

Immediately, Jim could hear chortles behind him and he had to work _so_ hard to hold his own laughter back. Oh, Jim was never going let Bones live this down.

Shaking his head, Jim sauntered up to his weapon and placed his left hand onto the hilt. "Lucky for you, Bones, he'll never get the chance to truly 'admire' your prettiness," he called out, the innuendo making Bones' cheeks flush red with either anger or embarrassment. Jim liked to think it was a bit of both.

With one strong heave, Jim pulled his claymore straight out of the ground and directly into a ready position. His feet were spread apart, his left a foot in front of his right. His left knee was bent slightly and his right was kept flexibly straight. Raising the claymore, he pressed his left elbow close to his body and pointed the weapon directly at the Rigo; his right hand held the end of the hilt, his elbow crooked to support the weight of the sword.

Spock frowned and leaned forward to get a better view from his cage. "I was not aware that the Captain is left-handed."

McCoy shook his head. "He's not. Something's wrong with his right."

"Should we be concerned?"

"You'll be surprised at how competent Jim is with his left hand. I actually thought he was left-handed for a while. Bastard likes to play with people's heads."

Spock turned his attention back to Jim, contemplating. "Fascinating."

McCoy snorted," Damn green-blooded bat can't even properly show admiration..."

Spock raised an eyebrow at McCoy. "Doctor, the match for your chastity is about to begin," he returned in a calm and even voice.

Before McCoy could even splutter with indignation, a horn blew and the battle for him had started.

Unlike the first time, Jim didn't immediately strike. He held his position, waiting for Rigo. The Kalian lumbered forward, much slower than Gringer, but still fast enough to be considered threatening. As he did, he swung his claymore several times, letting the steel blade twirl around him like it was a simple toy.

Automatically, Jim began calculating. Based on the whistling noise his claymore was making, Rigo was far stronger than Gringer, which meant that Jim had avoid any direct hits. He was skilled (of course he was) and he also knew to not underestimate Jim, so that advantage was out of the window. However, Jim had speed and he could use his smaller body to throw off Rigo's rhythm.

Rigo tested the waters by cleaving downwards at Jim's head. Jim sidestepped it by the bare minimum, jerking his right shoulder back slightly before moving to strike Rigo's now open underarm. The Kalian pivoted fast, bringing his sword to parry with Jim's. The impact of Rigo's strength traveled through their swords, sending painful vibrations straight to Jim. He gritted his teeth, his hands almost letting go of his weapon at the weight of Rigo's hit, but he held fast and turned. Crouching slightly, Jim swirled around, using his body's momentum to slice Rigo's back. Rigo blocked it easily, but missed Jim's right leg coming up high and landing a heavy hit on the side of his neck.

Rigo stumbled and Jim sprang into action. With his left hand, he swung his sword in wild, but calculated movements that forced Rigo to leave certain openings where it would instantly be met with hard kicks and jabbing elbows. Rigo could barely process the speed at which Jim moved at. All he knew was that his body was beginning to ache. Despite the fact that Jim was a mere human and his strength was tantamount to a teenage Kalian, Jim had such precision that his physical blows landed on the same areas over and over again, creating bruises and hematomas in his joints and over his vital points. He was hard-pressed - forced to defend instead of attacking. Quickly, Rigo had been pushed into a metaphorical corner, fighting tooth and nail against Jim.

Both swords flashed brightly against the sun, clashing and clanging. Jim lunged forward, sword centimeters away from stabbing Rigo, and Rigo jumped back, blocking and flicking back a counter that was easily parried away. Jim used Rigo's own momentum against him and suddenly backed off at the right moment, making Rigo flail for a brief second before Jim jammed the back of his hilt against Rigo's chest. Rigo sliced downwards, even as he stumbled back a few steps. Jim hefted his sword to meet Rigo's a few inches from the ground and heaved upwards hard. His actions knocked Rigo's sword harmlessly away and threw the alien off-balance. Instantly, Jim was in his space, his claymore dangerously close to Rigo's neck.

The crew of the _Enterprise _thought Jim's victory was in the bag, but luck was not on Jim's side (when was it ever?). One of Rigo's floundering arms accidentally struck Jim's injury, eliciting a sharp gasp from the human. Instinctively, Jim's body curled to protect his arm and his claymore lowered a couple of inches. That second of weakness was enough for Rigo to take the upper hand.

Rigo grasped Jim's sword by the blade and pulled Jim towards him. Angrily, Rigo head-butted Jim and when the latter was left dazed and reeling, he reached for Jim's subconsciously outstretched right arm. With his hand wrapped tightly around Jim's wrist, he aimed well with his right, jamming down the steel hilt of his heavy claymore onto the center of Jim's forearm. There was a loud cracking noise, followed by a ragged scream of pain. Rigo didn't hesitate and flipped his claymore. The flat of the blade caught Jim in his abdomen and like a baseball, Jim was flung a good twenty feet towards the cages.

He tumbled and turned, rolling to a stop on his stomach close to Spock and Bones. For a heart-wrenching second, Jim didn't move, even as Rigo stepped slowly towards him, picking up Jim's claymore that he long ago dropped.

"Jim! Get up, Jim!" yelled Bones. "Come on, kid!"

Spock leaned against the bars of his cage, forgetting that he would be shocked, to reach uselessly towards Jim.

Jim weakly pushed himself up on his left arm, visibly struggling. His right arm was on fire, burning and screaming with pain. The lateral side of his forearm was going numb and he couldn't even move his index and middle fingers well anymore - Rigo had fractured his radial bone.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins and Jim forced himself onto all fours. Well, on all three, because his right arm was wrapped tightly against his stomach where he was quietly trying to clamp down on the bleeding that had started while keeping it immobilized at the same time. That fucking bastard had twisted his sword at the last moment, cutting Jim shallowly, right above his navel.

Vaguely, he could hear Bones shouting at him, Uhura and Chekov screaming for him, and Spock's huffs of pain as he banged against the bars of his cage. For everyone to be so frightened, so worried, it was just simply unacceptable.

Jim pushed himself to his feet, staggering slightly as pain ate away at his usually bright mind. He watched, almost detachedly, at Rigo advancing on him, swinging both of their swords in either hand. A large smirk had found its way onto the Kalian's face and Jim found himself wanting, more than anything, to wipe it off, but his body wasn't properly cooperating.

Fuck it all.

Jim purposely jolted his broken arm, just a little, sending shooting pain throughout his glazed mind. It woke him up briefly, but it was enough for Jim to plan a few steps ahead. He moved his legs shoulder-width apart in anticipation, his knees slightly bent. Rigo didn't notice any changes and raised both swords, crossing his hands, as if he were going to scissor Jim in half.

As Rigo tried to trap Jim between the two blades, Jim leaned backwards as far as he could, pulling a Matrix sort of move. He grunted in exertion as he watched the swords close with a snap a breadth's width from his nose. Gravity kept pulling at him and he tilted his head back, pressing his left hand onto the ground. With strength that he didn't think he had anymore, Jim pushed off the ground with his legs and kicked Rigo's hands hard as he made a one-handed backwards flip.

Pain combined with shock made Rigo lose his grasp on the claymores, both flying a distance away. One landed an inch away from Jim's feet and he didn't even hesitate before lunging towards it. Whether or not Rigo was frozen by awe or fear, Jim didn't really think about it when he ran Rigo through.

Blood sprayed everywhere even as time seemed to stop. Rigo still stood, disbelief in his eyes as he looked down at the sword buried within his upper abdomen while Jim remained locked in his lunging position. It took a moment, but Rigo finally collapsed onto his knees, black blood bubbling out of the side of his mouth. Jim didn't release him - instead, he violently jerked out his claymore, slicing upwards as he did.

Rigo was dead before the longsword was completely out of his body.

Jim took a couple of steps back. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, to control the agony that was rearing its ugly head. His brilliant blue eyes - slightly glazed by pain - turned to face the Emperor.

The crowd was silent, unable to even produce a sound. Anger and sorrow glittered on every Kalians' face.

Jim scornfully stabbed his claymore upright into the dirt behind Rigo's head - a headstone for the fallen Kalian - and raised his arms in a clear sign of triumph.

"Release my friend, Emperor," Jim called out, his voice low and strong.

The Emperor's face turned dark purple with fury, but lifted his hand to signal to a Kalian placed by the cages.

The moment McCoy was released, he barreled forward, reaching for Jim. Bones grasped Jim's upper arm - the unbroken one - and started leading his best friend off-field. He could feel Jim trembling in his hand, see the sweat dripping down his face, and hear him struggle to even his breathing, but Jim refused to show any weakness before the Kalians and held himself high and confident - probably through sheer willpower alone.

"Damn it, Jim," he said, his tone so soft and gentle.

Jim just cracked a weak smile at him. "Good to see you too, Bones."

Jim kept up the act, even when Uhura and Chekov ran up to them. It was only when he was ushered into his ready room when his wobbling knees gave out on him.

He could feel himself falling, but arms reached out to grab him and dragged him forward so that he was sitting on the bench. He winced as he felt Bones gently prodded at his arm and the tender skin around his stomach.

"Uhura, go find a stick or something so we can splint this idiot's arm. Chekov, get some water for him," McCoy barked out. "Kid, you better still be with me, because I'm gonna lug you back onboard where a line of hyposprays is waiting for ya."

"Bones, your tricorder," he rasped out, nodding out thanks to Chekov who rushed to him with a bottle of water.

Bones cursed as he rummaged through his pockets, wanting to kick himself for not remembering it in the first place. He pulled it out, but before he could even run it over Jim, Jim snatched it out of his hands and tossed it to a bewildered Chekov.

"Keptin?"

"Just like I taught you, Chekov," Jim said, bending down to pull out his boot knife. He ignored Bones' "I can't believe you fought with that damn death trap against your leg" and handed it hilt first to Chekov. "Use this to cut the wires."

Recognition lit in the young genius' eyes, and he quickly took Jim's knife and settled into a corner, tearing apart McCoy's tricorder.

"What the hell, Jim? You gonna explain?" grouched McCoy as he tore off his own sleeves to bind Jim's injuries.

"Nope," Jim smiled.

He hissed as McCoy tightly bound his fractured arm between two sticks.

"Don't be an infant. It's hardly broken."

"Good to know. I'd hate to fight with a _really _broken arm," retorted Jim, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

He meant it to be a light-hearted statement, but the moment the words escaped him, the tension in the room became suffocating.

All the worry that McCoy had kept hidden came bubbling up to the surface, and he haggardly ran his fingers through his short hair. "Look, Jim. You know as well as I that you're gonna die if you go out there to fight again. And I just can't let you do that."

Jim's expressions grew somber. "Would you condemn Spock to die then?" he asked softly.

From the corner of his eye, Jim could see both Uhura and Chekov still, pretending as though they weren't listening in to their conversation.

Bone let out a rough exhale. "You know I don't mean that either. Despite our differences, that hobgoblin has kept you out of trouble and alive more times than I can thank him for. But Jim, you have to know your limits! Can you really fight with a broken arm and wounds that won't stop bleeding?! Can you win?"

"I have to, don't I?" Jim gave him a small smile. "It's not that bad. I've fought with worse conditions before."

And he really had. This didn't even make the top five list of worst possible scenarios that Jim had faced.

He got to his feet, using Bones' arm as support. "Don't worry, Bones. I have a plan."

"You always have a plan. Which plan are we on now? M? W?"

Blue eyes glittered with amusement and genius. "Actually, we're on plan E."

Bones rolled his eyes. "Great. Like that makes me feel any better."

"At least we're not on M or W like you thought we were, you grouchy, grouchy man."

The anticipated ominous sound of the horn echoed again.

Jim glanced at Chekov. "Keep working on that. I'll buy you some time. Come out as soon as it's done," he commanded, his Captain tone making the young man straighten subconsciously.

"Yes, sir!" he replied back.

"Uhura, keep him company. And by that, I mean: don't let any of the Kalians know what he's up to."

"Understood, Captain." She leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek. "Come back safe, got it?"

Jim smiled, knowing that there was no time for any innuendos or inappropriate comments. "I'll try my best, Lieutenant. Well then, I'm off for round three. Wish me luck!"

When he turned around, his smile dropped off his face. A familiar sense of apathy was crawling in his insides. He wasn't a cold-blooded killer; he hated the feel of blood upon him. But he was the Captain of the _Enterprise_. There was so much blood on his hands – either by his own will or making a mistake and causing deaths of his people. And here, at this moment, he could feel himself withdrawing within himself, hiding from the disgust he felt. The worst thing was, he _knew_ that he was reverting back to a persona that only existed on Tarsus, and he couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. _That_ scared him more than anything.

Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps next to him pulled him away from his thoughts. Instantly, the dark pressure on his chest lightened up a little. He didn't bother acknowledging Bones' presence as they both walked towards the battlefield. For him, it was like breathing to have Bones fall in step with him, walking side by side with him. If there ever came to be a day when Jim didn't have Bones beside him, Jim was sure that his entire world would fail to exist. With his shitty past, there were times when Jim didn't know if he was just a ghost or if he was even human anymore. Bones grounded him. Made him feel wanted and that he belonged somewhere; that he meant something to someone.

And Jim drew strength from that, locking J.T. back into the darkness where he belonged.

He wrapped his left arm around Bones' shoulders, careful to not jar any of his injuries. "Glad you're with me, Bones."

"Where else would I be?" replied Bones gruffly. "I followed you to this damn, alien-disease infested planet, didn't I? Someone's gotta make sure you stay alive."

Jim chuckled, the noise sounding strained, even to his ears.

"Uhura and Chekov okay?" McCoy asked knowingly.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm making them take psych evals when we get back though."

"I'm making _you_ take a psych eval, you dumbass. Only an insane person like you would keep taunting an Emperor of a belligerent race."

A pause as the rays of the sun reached them.

"You okay, Jim?"

Jim knew he wasn't talking about his injuries.

"Better than I should be," he replied truthfully. "It helps to have you guys around."

"You're an idiot. We're always going to be around, even if you don't think so."

Jim looked away, seeing nothing but dirt and bloodstains. "I'll believe it after this is all over."

Bones didn't get a chance to say anything else. All he could do was watch his best friend walk to his possible death.

And he _hated _himself for not being able to do anything.

* * *

When Captain Kirk walked out onto the field for another match, he was met with utter silence. No cheers, no boos. But he could feel the hateful glares stabbing him as he marched forward to the center where he stopped before a brawny Kalian. Like others before him, he was shirtless. He had arm guards spreading from his wrists to his elbows. On his hands was a claw-like weapon that fit right over his knuckles. Four curved blades were affixed to the glove, making the entire thing look like a tiger's claws, which was the weapons' nickname in the common tongue.

"I challenge you to a match of bagh nakh," the Kalian said before tossing Jim a pair.

The Kalian had aimed well so that the claws would pierce Jim's hands if he caught them wrong, but Jim wasn't fool enough to be hasty. He easily timed it so that the claws made an extra revolution before he easily snagged the weapons out of the air and placed them on.

As he did, he eyed the Kalian. "So, what are you called?"

"They call me Wretin."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Wretin? You will die."

A wicked, cold smile spread upon Wretin's face. He was confident – more so than the others – and he had such bloodlust that Jim felt a twinge of nervousness.

"Captain, it will not be me who dies," cackled Wretin.

Jim just crouched into a ready position and curled his hands into fists around the bagh nakhs. "Only one way to know."

Wretin moved first. He quickly invaded into Jim's space and like a boxer, began to jab and punch wherever Jim had an opening. Jim ducked, dodged, and parried the strikes, keeping the sharp blades centimeters away from his skin. He took a step back to avoid an uppercut and was forced to swing violently to his right to miss the claws slashing through his injured arm. Wretin immediately followed with a swipe to the same arm, narrowly missing again.

Jim danced around, ducking another jab to his right arm. Wretin was targeting his injuries and Jim was having difficulties countering it. To put some distance between him and Wretin, Jim kicked out, but Wretin just grabbed his leg. Jim jumped, twisting his body to slam his left leg against Wretin's head. The Kalian grunted and dropped Jim, but not before he rotated his hands, leaving behind shallow cuts on Jim's ankles.

Red blood slowly dripped down, covering Jim's shoe, but he paid it no attention. He could barely even feel the stinging above the deep aching of his arm and he leapt up, slashing downwards with his left arm. The slightly dazed Kalian couldn't react fast enough to dodge completely. He roared as the tips of Jim's claws scraped through his skin and fascia, nicking the top layer of his torso muscles.

With no pause in his movements, Jim elbowed Wretin in his stomach with the same arm and immediately followed with a swift kick to the alien's side. Pushing his body to its limits, Jim didn't let himself stop with the attacks. A stab here and a kick there; he was making it hard for Wretin to make a move, but he wasn't doing much else. He couldn't land a hit on Wretin, let alone kill the Kalian, and his strength was waning quickly.

A touch of panic flickered in Jim's gut and for the first time since this entire debacle started, he doubted his abilities to win. His highly imaginative mind wandered, flashing images of Bones, Spock, Uhura, and Chekov dead – scattered around him with their lifeless eyes accusing him of not being strong enough, smart enough, to save them.

It was like Tarsus all over again with his kids lying dead at his feet.

For a brief, dizzy second, he felt his breath get caught in his throat and blinding fear spread through him like lightning. And Wretin took full advantage of it.

When Jim's movements froze, Wretin lashed out. His left claws caught Jim's forehead, but Jim's instincts prevented him from cutting too deep. Jim stumbled back, but not before Wretin grabbed his left arm and bent his wrist, digging the tips of his right claws into Jim's wrist. Wretin kicked at Jim's chest while still holding on. The force sent Jim reeling back and the blades raked down his arm, leaving four bloody trails from a few inches above his elbow to his wrist.

Jim didn't have time to hiss in pain before Wretin's kick sent him flying across the field. As he laid there, face-down in the dirt, he could feel his entire body aching in pain and his muscles trembling. Sweat was mixing with his blood. There was an odd rushing noise in his ears, like everything had become muffled. He could barely make out the cries of his friends – of Bones yelling at him to get his lazy ass off the ground and Uhura's screams for him to get the hell up. Chekov's colorful words in Russian and Spock's threatening words to Wretin had joined in the fray, adding to the sounds of pounding that echoed in his mind.

He could sense Wretin getting closer; the Kalian's footsteps thudding against the ground and sending up small clouds of dirt, but he still couldn't make his body move. Panic and despair threatened to swallow him whole, like he was barely keeping his head above churning water.

Just as the water was about drown him, something in his mind shattered. Shards of glass rained down upon him and rearranged to form a box around him. Baffled, Jim saw a thin man approached his prison. The man's blue eyes held no life within them and the moment Jim made contact with them, they swallowed Jim into an abyss full of darkness and ice.

Jim fell deeper and deeper into the black until he couldn't breathe anymore.

And then something snapped. Like a switch being turned on, adrenaline began to flow through his frozen veins again. Strength entered his muscles and all the pain faded away like a bad dream.

It was then that J.T. opened his eyes and lurched to his feet. There was a maniacal glimmer to his eyes and cold bloodlust oozed out of his pores. The entire atmosphere of the match changed in the blink of an eye. It was like the calm before the storm – a few of the Kalians even shivered as the cold settled down around them.

Wretin paused, confused at this stranger before him, and that was all J.T. needed to strike.

With almost inhumane speed, J.T. darted forward and crouched, slashing deeply into Wretin's calf. The Kalian fell to one knee and J.T. roundhouse kicked Wretin's larynx, knocking Wretin heavily onto his back.

Silently, J.T. punched downwards with his left hand, fatally stabbing Wretin in his chest.

Surprise was still written in Wretin's eyes before he had a chance to truly comprehend what had happened. J.T. was cold, _ruthless_, and efficient in killing – so different than Jim whose heart had been softened by his friends and everyone he had met on and through the _Enterprise_.

And it was that heart that woke Jim back up in time to lock J.T. back into the crevices of his mind before his illogical self decided to decimate the Kalian population for threatening anything he held dear.

As the haze from his eyes cleared, Jim found himself staring down upon the fading Kalian.

"You still lose, Captain Kirk," rasped Wretin, laughter dying on his lips.

"What do you mean?" demanded Jim.

Wretin's hand thudded against the dirt and Jim's blue eyes were drawn to the sight of the blood dripping off the tips of the tiger claws. His mind swirled; his waning strength, the unnatural stinging pain of his injuries…it all led to one conclusion.

"You poisoned it…" Jim breathed.

Blood gurgled out of Wretin as he chuckled. "Y-you l-lose."

Jim snarled. "You underestimate me, Wretin. Go to hell." And he twisted his hand, making the claws twist and burrow deeper into the Kalian's chest.

Wretin died with a smirk on his face.

Jim staggered to his feet, dread filling him. A cold, icy feeling was spreading from his wounds, gradually paralyzing his muscles. It was a slow-acting poison. If he got back onto the _Enterprise_ within the next few minutes, Bones still might have a chance of saving him.

He was so focused on diagnosing himself that he didn't even realize that Spock had been released and was now right beside him, his body so close that Jim could easily lean on him if needed. A warm arm snaked around his waist and he glanced to his left to see Bones supporting him with a grim expression. Uhura and Chekov were there too, standing beside McCoy – safe and sound. Suddenly, he felt so, _so_ tired and he was more than willing to leave the rest of this debacle to Spock.

"Captain Kirk has successfully completed his trials of Krav Kali. We are free to leave," Spock said loudly, his brown-black eyes angry.

"Incorrect, Commander Spock. Captain Kirk has won the challenges for _your_ lives; he has yet to fight for his own," the Emperor returned, a broad smile reaching his face. He knew as well as Spock, McCoy, and Kirk that Jim had no chance of surviving another round – not when he was barely standing on his own.

"Then I challenge you to a Krav Kali with my Captain's life as stake!" Spock announced.

Bones took a step forward while still keeping Jim upright. "Count me in too!"

"Me as vell!" Chekov added.

Beside him, Uhura exclaimed, "And me!"

"Such insolence!" roared the Emperor. "Captain Kirk must fight for his life as dictated by the laws of Krav Kali!"

The words jolted something in Jim's sluggish memory. "No, I don't…" he whispered.

Both Spock and Bones shot him a look of confusion.

He cleared his throat and stood a little bit straight. "I don't have to," Jim repeated, loudly this time.

"It is our law!"

"Your warrior fought with no honor!" Jim snapped.

There was a second of silence and the Kalian rulers' faces paled. "What do you mean?" hissed the Emperor.

Jim pointed at Wretin. "Your warrior poisoned his blades!"

Bones' grip on his waist tightened, but Jim continued. "As such, by the laws of Krav Kali, your warrior has effectively nullified any charges against me and thus concluding this battle. And now, seeing how my friends and I are free, I've only got one last thing to say to you."

He nodded at Chekov who whispered "Beam us up!" into the configured tricorder.

Jim looked back up at the Emperor, a shit-eating smirk on his face, and raised his left hand, making an extremely rude and offensive gesture. "Fuck you."

Familiar white lights swirled around them and in the next instant, Jim, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, and Uhura were back onboard the _Enterprise_.

Scotty and the rest of the technicians in the transporter room were not prepared to see their Captain bleeding all over McCoy, but they didn't have time to comment before Jim was already barking out orders in his "Captain" tone.

"Scotty, get us the hell out of this quadrant. Spock, you have the conn. Let Starfleet know that the Kalians are probably no longer on good terms with us. Uhura, Chekov – head to the Bridge and do damage control. And someone call Medical."

They all stared at him dumbly for a brief second.

"Did I stutter? Move!" Jim said.

Instantly, there was a flurry of movement and the transporter room all but cleared out.

Jim turned his glazed blue eyes onto Bones and gave him a small smile. "Told you everything'll work out."

And then proceeded to pass the fuck out.

Bones staggered under Jim's dead weight and struggled to keep Jim from face-planting on the ground just as medical came rolling in. In seconds, Jim was loaded onto a gurney and hyposprays were jammed into his neck.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Bones couldn't help but run his fingers through his best friend's hair and smile with relief. "Yeah, you did good, kid. You did real good."

* * *

Beta shift had rolled around and the Bridge crew had squeezed into the Sickbay to visit their friend. It had been a week since the Kalian incident and while Starfleet hadn't made a huge fuss about it, surprisingly, every person aboard the _Enterprise _had been tense and stressed, simply because McCoy had kept Jim's condition quiet, not that he had it on purpose. He had spent the first two days working with Spock to develop an antidote that Jim wasn't allergic to and the rest keeping Jim's system from fraying out.

About ten minutes ago, McCoy had sent a comm. to each of the Bridge crew that Jim was finally awake and coherent enough for visitors, so here they were, crowding the Sickbay.

Jim was sitting up when Spock, Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu came in, propped up by three pillows and the incline of the biobed. He was shirtless and a white sheet was pulled up to cover just his legs. White bandages with splashes of pink were covering his left arm and a patch of gauze was taped onto his brow. There was an IV stuck into his right arm, now healed and mended, but his pallor had returned to normal and a bright smile was scrawled upon his face.

"Hey, guys!" he grinned. "I'd wave, but Mr. Cranky-Pants over there will just smack me."

"I wouldn't be cranky if you actually listen to me for once, dumbass," grouched Bones, but the small smile on his face betrayed him.

"Keptin!" cried Chekov, rushing forward to his bedside. "I'm so glad to see zat you are alright!"

Spock stepped forward as well, his eyebrow rising at the sight of Jim's left arm. "Dr. McCoy, it has been a week since the Kalians. Are the dermal regenerators not working as they should?"

"Is that a veiled insult at my medical skills, you damn hobgoblin?"

"That would be illogical. If I were to insult you, I would not be so subtle."

Jim snorted. "Don't lie, Spock. You're the master of subtle."

"While that may be true, it still does not answer the question of why your injuries have not healed."

"It's the poison, Spock," McCoy sighed. "Every time we try to use modern medicine on it, it either makes things worse or has completely no effect."

"How will that affect the Captain?"

"It won't. We just have to let it heal twenty-first century style, but it'll most likely leave a scar."

"Which women dig, right, Uhura?" winked Jim.

Uhura rolled her eyes with a soft smile in response and Sulu chuckled.

"What kind of drugs are you on, Kirk?" Sulu asked.

"The good stuff, of course."

"I hear you were a bit of a badass with the Kalians. That's funny, because I seem to recall that I kicked your ass in fencing."

"You should not challenge the Keptin, Hikaru. He vill vipe the floor vith you."

"I'm offended, Pavel!" gasped Sulu. "How could you say that? I feel so wounded!"

Immediately, Chekov was stumbling to comfort his friend. "I am not saying zat you are not amazing as vell, Hikaru!"

"And that's why Chekov is everyone's favorite," laughed Jim.

"How many weapons do you know how to use, Kirk?" Sulu asked. "Which martial arts do you know?"

"Quite a few. It'd take forever for me to answer that question."

"And why didn't we know about this?"

Jim shrugged. "Didn't come up."

"Don't kid yourself, Jim," McCoy said. "You _love_ to surprise people. You like them to keep on guessing. It's the same with that weird Chinese acrobatic shit you pulled a few missions back."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that," grinned Jim.

Uhura stepped forward, laying a gentle hand on Jim's foot and giving him a concerned look.

"Uh oh. Am I in trouble?"

"It's just…I want to ask how you're doing."

"Didn't we just answer this question? I think Bones would be more than happy to repeat himself, since that seems to be all that he's been doing lately."

Bones half-heartedly smacked at Jim's leg.

"You know what I mean, Kirk."

Jim's gaze hardened slightly. "Am I okay with killing fourteen Kalians in cold blood?"

Uhura hesitated and nodded.

"Let's just say that I would do it again if I had to."

Unsurprisingly, no one called Jim out on his violent aggressiveness to protect his family – not when each and every one of them would do the exact same as he.

"I still can't believe you found the time to teach Chekov how to reconfigure a tricorder into a communicator," Bones said.

"Good thing I did, huh? Otherwise, some other Kalian who finds you 'pleasing to the eye' might have had the opportunity to 'admire' your prettiness, Bones." Jim smirked at Bones and wiggled his eyebrow.

Bones spluttered as he leapt to his feet. "Damn it, Jim!"

"Whoa, I don't think I heard about this. Who thought McCoy was pretty?" Sulu asked, a grin spreading on his face.

"You haven't heard about the fight for Bones' chastity? Oh boy, do I have a story for you."

Jim, despite all his skills, couldn't dodge Bones' unerringly accurate precision for hyposprays. He was out like a light in seconds, a smile still on his face.

"Just so all of you know, I _will_ hypospray anyone else who decides to talk about that. Remember, if I can get this ingenious idiot, the rest of you don't stand a chance," growled McCoy.

Spock raised his eyebrow, fully aware of the fact that Sulu and Chekov had moved to hide behind him.

"Hiding behind the hobgoblin won't save you. Now get out of my Sickbay. I've got work to do. Shoo!"

"Very well, Doctor. I will leave you to your work. When Jim wakes, be sure to thank him."

McCoy frowned and crossed his arms. "Why?"

"He saved your good honor, Doctor. I believe that merits a thank you."

Needless to say, the rest of the Bridge crew refused to visit Jim afterwards, much to their ingenious Captain's confusion. And when the annual inoculations rolled around, Jim was pleased to discover that he was not the only one avoiding McCoy like the plague.

Turns out, he wasn't the only ingenious idiot around.

And damn, did that feel good.

* * *

So, how was it? Hope you guys liked it. And as I said in the beginning, you guys get to decide what the next story is about. I got lots of really good ideas (thanks to all your reviews) and I've narrowed it down to three choices:

1) De-aged Kirk

2) Chekov and Kirk get held hostage

3) Spock gets hurt and Kirk uses his survival skills to keep them both alive until _Enterprise _finds them

I'll probably end up writing all three, but you guys can decide the order. To keep things simple, just let me know what your first choice is and we'll go from there, deal?

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and please review! Your reviews always make my day! Thanks!

~ Kanae Yuna


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